Playing up in competition against 4A and 5A teams to close out the pre-holiday schedule, the Roaring Fork High School (RFHS) boys and girls basketball teams now have their eyes on the 3A Western Slope League slate come the new year.
The Rams girls are off to a 3-2 start, scoring a win over Basalt, 47-27, to open the Basalt Tournament on Dec. 13. That was followed by a 62-33 loss to Kent Denver, currently ranked fifth in the state for 4A, and a close 48-39 loss to 4A Moffat County in Saturday’s third-place game.
Head coach Mike Vidakovich is confident in his team’s skills when it comes time to face off against the 3A league competition.
“Kent’s a very good team, and we won’t likely see another team like that until the playoffs,” Vidakovich said. “Those last two games especially were good for us and will better prepare us for league play.”
Against Moffat, several Roaring Fork turnovers gave the Bulldogs a big advantage early on. But the Rams won every quarter from there on out to make it close.
“The girls know they have to cut down on the turnovers to win those games,” Vidakovich said. “They want to play fast, but sometimes they need to slow down their heads a little bit.”
Highlights for the Rams included 12-point performances for junior Carly Crownhart and freshman Riley Bevington versus Basalt, and 13 points and 10 rebounds for sophomore Nikki Tardif in the Moffat County game.
The Roaring Fork boys are off to a rougher start, going 1-6 through the early stretch with the lone win coming on Dec. 8, 63-33 over Brush. Prior to that, the Rams had a hard-fought game against 4A Rifle on Dec. 6, falling by just two points, 66-64.
That was followed by Basalt Tournament losses to the host Longhorns, 70-58, to Kent Denver, 91-27, and to 5A Montrose, 57-24.
A tough early season schedule should better prepare the Rams boys for the 3A league, head coach Jason Kreiling said.
“These teams are a big jump from what we will normally be playing as far as competition goes,” he said. “That helps when we play our league opponents.”
Scoring support behind senior Noel Richardson is what the team has to work on, he said.
“Especially if Noel has an off night, someone has to step up,” Kreiling said, noting that no Ram scored more than six points against Montrose on Saturday.
Richardson had 19 points against Basalt, with 11 and 10 coming from sophomores Lucas Carballeira and Ethan Wilson, respectively. Richardson had 12 against Kent Denver.
Both Rams teams will have some time in the gym over the holiday break to fine tune things before beginning the new year with a flurry of league games, Jan. 10 at Meeker and at home in Carbondale for back-to-back games on Jan. 12 and 13 versus North Fork and Grand Valley.
Swim, wrestling seasons under way
The combined Glenwood Springs High School girls swimming and Basalt High School boys and girls wrestling teams include several Carbondale athletes from Roaring Fork and Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS).
The Demons swim team is off to a 4-0 team start behind senior sprint standouts Amelie Ogilby from CRMS and Adelyn Newton from Glenwood.
The seniors lead a group of eight swimmers with early qualifications to the state 3A championship in February, head coach Steve Vanderhoof said. Also on the team this year are RFHS senior Lucianna Phillips, junior homeschooler Isabella Moon from Redstone, and CRMS swimmers Rowan Wolfson, Penelope White and Laia Ogilby.
Meanwhile, Basalt’s wrestling teams have a few meets under their belts heading into the new year.
Competing at the West Grand Invitational last Saturday, Basalt’s Roaney Requeno won his first-place match at 126 pounds over Rangely’s Ronny Anderson with a fall at 3 minutes, 13 seconds. Carlos Valenzuela took second at 138 pounds, falling in the championship match to Buena Vista’s Caleb Camp in 1:02.
Basalt’s lady wrestlers were at the Western Slope Showdown on Dec. 8-9, where Emely Mejia Garcia won her Round 3 100-pound bout over Alamosa’s Leah Pintor by fall in just 22 seconds. At 145 pounds, Roselyne Bernal pinned Bayfield’s Lucy Porter in 1:31.