Roaring Fork High School’s boys basketball team secured its spot atop the 3A Western Slope League with a big win at Meeker on Jan. 24, while the girls suffered their first loss of the season but remain in the hunt for a league title.
The boys team opened a 29-17 halftime lead and never looked back in the 62-43 victory to move to 5-0 in the league and 10-2 overall — good enough to move up to the No. 11 spot in the 3A state rankings behind the usual contingent of Front Range teams.
The Rams were led in scoring by junior Quentin Galbraith with 17 points, while senior co-captains Lucas Carballeira and Kiko Pena combined for 16 and 12 points, respectively. Pena also pulled down 16 rebounds on the afternoon.
“Every single quarter, I feel like we played well,” Pena said, noting the team sometimes struggles to find its rhythm in the first half of play. “We have to be consistent every single quarter, and we can’t let teams come back on us. We have to win every single quarter.”
Meeker is always a tough contest, especially at their gym, coach Jason Kreiling said.
“So, for us to go in there and be ready to go and get that big win, that’s definitely helpful for us, especially as we’re about to start that second round of [league games],” he said. “I still feel like we’re on an upwards trajectory, and we’re not quite there yet. We’re starting to play well together, but it’s all about the little details that we really need to focus on.”
A string of games over the next week will be key for the Rams, both in terms of defending their WSL title and improving their state power rankings with a pair of Class 4A teams on the slate.
Roaring Fork travels to play Aspen, the sixth-ranked team in 4A, on Thursday, then hosts 4-2 league foe North Fork on Saturday (4pm) and the 10th-ranked (4A) Coal Ridge Titans next Tuesday, Feb. 3 (7pm).
After that, they’ll play on the road Thursday, Feb. 5, at Olathe. The Pirates currently sit second in the league at 5-2 in league and 10-3 overall.
“We definitely need some of these non-league games coming up, because it’s always hard coming from the Western Slope to get into that top eight for 3A so you could host a regional,” Kreiling said.
Pena said he believes the Rams are up to the task.
“Aspen is definitely one of the better teams we’re going to play this season, so this is a really important game,” he said. “We need to come out strong and do our best. We can’t let down.”
Meanwhile, the Lady Rams lost their game at Meeker, 47-40, to fall into second place in the league at 5-1 (12-1 overall). Roaring Fork is now ranked ninth among 3A teams, while Meeker holds the seventh spot.
“The girls played very hard on Saturday afternoon, but Meeker was just a little bit better than us on this day,” head coach Mike Vidakovich said.
Roaring Fork was up 23-16 at halftime of the game, but let Meeker back into it, giving up 15 points in the third quarter and 16 in the fourth, to the Rams’ 17 total.
Junior scoring leader Riley Bevington again led the way with 17 points and had eight steals, while junior Hazel Jenkins had seven points. Senior post player Nikki Tardif, playing on a bad ankle, still pulled down 11 rebounds.
Meeker freshman Cienna Rogers had a barrage of 3-pointers to help secure the win. All 18 of her points were from behind the arc, while senior Rylee Sullivan had 15 points, and freshman Raegan Clatterbaugh had 19 rebounds.
“We’ll get another chance against them, and on our home court,” Vidakovich said of the second round of league games that will bring North Fork to Carbondale this Saturday (2:30pm), Meeker on Feb. 10 (5:30pm), and Cedaredge on Feb. 20 (5:30pm).