A combination of veteran experience and talent among the younger ranks has the Roaring Fork High School boys basketball team in the thick of the 3A Western Slope League (WSL) race with five crucial games to go.
After soundly defeating North Fork in the final road game of the regular season last Friday (Jan. 26), 62-41, the Rams come home to close out the league schedule, starting with Cedaredge at 7pm Friday, Feb. 2 and a rematch with league-leading Meeker at 4pm that Saturday.
Roaring Fork earned a 58-50 win over Cedaredge in their first meeting back on Jan. 12, two days after Meeker nipped the visiting Rams 43-41.
The Meeker Cowboys are currently undefeated in league play at 7-0 (11-1 overall), while Roaring Fork is riding a three-game winning streak with a 5-2 league mark (6-8 overall) that has the Rams sitting in second place in the league standings.
“We’ve been playing really well, and I feel like our scoring has been balanced, which is really hard to stop,” said senior Noel Richardson, who leads the team averaging 12.9 points per game.
To win league, the Rams will most likely need to win out (win the remainder of their games) or hope that another team can beat Meeker along the way. Wins Friday and Saturday would put Roaring Fork in the driver’s seat.
“If we all just work as hard as we can, I feel like no one can hang with us,” Richardson said.
Key to the Rams league journey thus far, after a tough start to the season against several 4A and 5A opponents, has been the play of senior Josh Hernandez and a core of talented sophomore and junior players.
Sophomore big man Kiko Pena has been strong on the boards, pulling down 9.4 rebounds per game, along with 1.8 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.
Against North Fork last week, sophomore Ethan Wilson led all scorers with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, while sophomore Lucas Carballeira had 12 and Richardson had 11.
“Everyone has to do their role, and just try to get buckets every game,” Hernandez said. “Our four sophomores have been really helping us out with rebounds and scoring.”
Bench support from players like fellow senior Yusbani Duarte Carrillo, in just his first year with the Rams team, has also been helpful.
“I feel like defensively I’ve been doing my part and I’ve learned a lot in practice and games,” Carrillo said. “I’m glad to have these coaches and my teammates around to support me.”
Head coach Jason Kreiling thinks his team is moving in the right direction, but they aren’t yet at their best.
“This group is still figuring a few things out from when Noel missed three games,” Kreiling said of Richardson’s absence for the first three games after the holiday break when he was out sick. “It would be great to get through the rest of the league games with wins, and everyone wants to be playing their best basketball real soon with post season right around the corner.”
Girls team grabs another ‘W’
Meanwhile, the Roaring Fork girls are also keeping pace in the always-tough WSL, sitting in fourth place currently at 4-3 in league and 7-5 overall.
The ladies team won convincingly over North Fork, 61-28, on Friday, and is preparing for the same slate of opponents on the home court this weekend as the boys (5:30pm Friday vs. Cedaredge, and 2:30pm Saturday against Meeker).
Against North Fork, junior Carly Crownhart led in the scoring column with 16 points, while sophomore Nikki Tardif had 12 and junior Erica Crownhart and freshman Riley Bevington chipped in 10 each.
“(Senior) Lexy Sanchez and (junior) Maddie Anderson did a nice job coming off the bench,” head coach Mike Vidakovich said after the weekend action. “We have a couple of big games at home this weekend, and hopefully a sellout crowd on Friday.”
The Rams fell to Meeker 57-50 on Jan. 10, before claiming a 43-34 win at Cedaredge two nights later.