A pair of young Roaring Fork High School basketball teams got a nibble of what it tastes like to play in the postseason, and the youthful squads and their coaches are already hungry for next season.
Roaring Fork’s girls opened the 3A state playoffs Friday in the small northern Colorado town of Ault with a convincing win, 78-41 over Windsor Charter Academy, to advance to the Sweet 16.
However, the 10th-seeded Rams got derailed by the regional host, the No. 7 Highland Huskies, 64-56 on Saturday to end their season at 16 wins, eight losses.
Roaring Fork’s boys, seeded 25th and playing at No. 8 Peyton High northeast of Colorado Springs, had their chances early in Friday’s opener leading the host team by nine points with 2:30 to play in the first half. But a scoring lapse for the Rams, and some easy buckets for the Panthers when they managed to get behind the Roaring Fork defense, more than made up the difference as the Rams fell 68-60. Roaring Fork closed out the season at 11-12.
It was the last game in a Rams basketball jersey for five Roaring Fork seniors: Lelaney Gardesani and Avery Smith for the girls, and Noel Richardson, Josh Hernandez and Yusbani Carrillo for the boys.
Missed opportunities
Against Highland, the Roaring Fork girls were up 32-29 at the end of the first half and were tied at 46-all going into the fourth quarter.
Roaring Fork suffered a blow early in the fourth quarter when sophomore post player Nikki Tardif fouled out, and a rash of Rams turnovers proved costly as the Huskies closed out the game with an 18-10 run.
Freshman Riley Bevington was the team’s leading scorer with 17 points, despite playing on a slightly sprained ankle. Junior Erica Crownhart had 12 points, with Gardesani and junior Carley Crownhart scoring 11 each. In the opener, Carley Crownhart had 23 points, including three three-pointers, and Tardif had a season-high 19 points to go with her 11 rebounds. Freshman Hazel Jenkins contributed 10 points.
In the boys’ playoff game, the Rams were up 34-25 before a scoring drought and a defensive lapse that plagued them all season let the Panthers back in it. By halftime, it was 34-all. Roaring Fork kept it close, trailing just 47-45 after three periods, but the higher seed pulled away in the fourth to claim the win.
“Overall, we played a pretty good game,” third-year head coach Jason Kreiling said. “The inconsistency part of scoring caught up with us. We kept playing hard but couldn’t quite get there.”
Richardson led the way for the Rams with 19 points, followed by sophomore Lucas Carballeira with 17 and sophomore Ethan Wilson with 12.
“Our seniors showed up and played hard and will be really missed,” Kreiling said. “I’m really proud of this team.”
Bright futures
With the likelihood of a strong contingent of returning starters and several younger players who are showing promise, there’s already some excitement building for next season for both Rams teams.
“I’m anxious to start working with the kids for next season,” said first-year girls head coach Mike Vidakovich, who took the helm unexpectedly after he signed on to be Colorado Hall of Fame Coach Al Blanc’s assistant. Blanc resigned for health reasons just before the start of the season and later passed away.
The Lady Rams’ starting lineup this year featured two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman, with ample support off the bench from some up-and-coming players.
“I just think if they work hard this summer, they will have a chance to do some special things next season,” Vidakovich said.
But it will take some work by the returning players in the off season to accomplish that, he said.
Likewise, after losing several players to graduation in last year’s state playoff run, few people expected a young Rams boys team to go as far as it did this season, coach Kreiling said.
“They came together at the end to play great as a team,” he said of his own sophomore- and junior-laden starting squad this season.
“The good part is that we have three or four starters coming back next season, and some younger guys that are looking really promising,” Kreiling said.