Roaring Fork High School’s boys and girls basketball teams managed opening-round wins in the regionals of the 3A playoffs last weekend, but were both upended in the second round to conclude their seasons.
It was epic March Madness basketball for the No. 9-seeded Lady Rams, who won easily Friday, March 7, over No. 24 Lyons, 53-26, before facing the regional host, No. 8 Strasburg on Saturday.
A game of fits and spurts for the Rams ended in a disappointing 59-57 loss, but Roaring Fork came to play.
The Rams were down 36-27 at halftime, and fell further behind 41-27 in the third quarter before going on an 11-0 run to make things interesting.
Again behind 53-43 late in the fourth quarter, the Rams came charging back to tie it at 55-all late in the game. What at first was thought to be a 3-pointer by sophomore Riley Bevington got waved off, and Strasburg closed it out 4-2 down the stretch to seal it.
“I’ve really never seen a group of kids play as hard as they did,” head Rams coach Mike Vidakovich said afterward. “They gave everything that they had, but we came up a couple points short of our goal of getting to the final eight in Denver.”
Senior Carley Crownhart led the way with 17 points in the contest, followed by Bevington with 16 points, junior Nikki Tardif with 12 points and senior Erica Crownhart with eight points.
“Carley and Erica set a great example for us this weekend with their work ethic and attitude,” Vidakovich said of his senior leaders. “Everybody else followed along. I’m very proud of them.”
The Rams finished the season at 22-3 overall, after taking second in the 3A Western Slope League (WSL) at 12-2.
Their only regular season losses came to the Cedaredge Bruins, who advanced to the Great 8 of the 3A tourney as the No. 4 seed.
Boys fall to Firebirds
After slipping by longtime nemesis No. 18 Denver Christian 50-47 on Friday night, the No. 15 Roaring Fork boys advanced to face No. 2 Windsor Charter Academy (WCA).
Roaring Fork was the only regular public school in the regional hosted by the WCA Firebirds, who proved too much to handle in a 70-40 loss on Saturday afternoon.
Down just 19-16 after one quarter of play, WCA went on a 25-8 run in the second frame and never looked back.
“This group of boys fought really hard this weekend against a couple of good teams,” head coach Jason Kreiling said. “It was great to go and get at least one win this weekend. Good luck to Windsor Charter; they are a really good team.”
Junior Lucas Carballeira led in scoring for both games, with 19 points against Denver Christian and 14 versus WCA.
The Rams finished at 18-7 overall after going 12-0 to win the 3A WSL for the first time in 12 years.
“The end of a high school sports season is always very abrupt,” Kreiling said. “You spend a lot of time outside practice and work preparing for four-and-a-half months, then it all comes to an end in one night.
“This group is special,” the coach added. “The seniors I have coached since third grade, and my son (Lawson) is a part of that group. This year stings a little more than in the past.”
At the same time, Kreiling said he is looking forward to next season with a solid core of returning starters in juniors Kiko Pena, Lucas Carballeira and Ethan Wilson, along with Quintin Galbraith and Ryder Tezanos.
Spring season begins
Meanwhile, several spring sports teams for Roaring Fork saw their first action this past weekend.
The Rams baseball team had 10-0 and 16-9 losses to Discovery Canyon and Montrose, respectively, at a weekend tournament.
They play another tournament on the Front Range this Friday and Saturday, March 15, against Kent Denver and Colorado Academy, and are set to host Coal Ridge for a double header on March 29, followed by the Trent Goscha Tournament April 3-5.
The combined Roaring Fork-Basalt-Glenwood girls lacrosse team also opened 0-1 with a 10-8 loss at home Saturday against Steamboat Springs. Junior Jordyn Miller scored five goals, and senior Hailey Wolfe had three. The Rams recoved with an impressive win against Montrose on Tuesday, 17-1, and will be in Grand Junction on Thursday.
Girls soccer opened the season Tuesday at Grand Junction with a tie, 2-2, and is at Fruita Monument on Friday, while boys and girls track and Field opens the season Friday at the Rifle Invitational.