A stinger loss for the Roaring Fork High School boys basketball team against former league rival Coal Ridge on the Titans’ home court Feb. 4 served as extra motivation for the 3A Western Slope League-leading Rams.
Down 32-19 at halftime against the Titans — who now play in the 4A league — the Rams staged a comeback, outscoring Coal Ridge 34-22 over the final 16 minutes of play, falling just short of the upset win, 54-53.
Still, it was a huge confidence booster for a Roaring Fork team that remains undefeated atop the 3A league standings at 9-0 (14-5 overall and ranked 16th in the state after a 61-46 win at Meeker Tuesday night).
“Everyone is doing their part for the team,” head coach Jason Kreiling said. “We have everyone contributing. Even the guys who don’t fill the stat sheet know their role.”
Decisive wins ensued at home in Carbondale over Olathe on Friday, 77-44, and against Gunnison on Saturday, 70-41. The wins gave the edge to the Rams over the second-place Grand Valley Cardinals (9-10, 8-2), who come to town this Saturday, Feb. 15, for a game that could determine the league title.
Senior Sam Brennan had one of his best games of the season against Olathe, scoring 13 points to complement junior Lucas Carballeira’s 16 points. Junior Kiko Pena had 11 points and 17 rebounds.
Against Gunnison, it was Carballeira and Pena again leading the way with 18 points each, while sophomore Quentin Galbraith had 13.
Game time Saturday against Grand Valley is 4pm.
Lady Rams hang tough to beat Gunnison
After dispatching Olathe 74-20 at home on Friday night, the Roaring Fork girls basketball team found themselves in a tight one against Gunnison on Saturday afternoon.
The score tied with a little over 5 minutes to play in the game, the Rams tapped into the home court energy and found a way, emerging with the 54-46 victory.
“These girls are tougher than the back wall of the shooting gallery, and they will continue to prove it to everyone the rest of the way,” head coach Mike Vidakovich said of his team, which now stands at 19-1 overall and is ranked 10th in the state among 3A teams after a 66-52 win at Meeker Tuesday night.
At 10-1 in the Western Slope League, they only have undefeated Cedaredge standing in their way of a league title, with a big game at Cedaredge coming up on Feb. 21.
Against Olathe, sophomore Riley Bevington led with 24 points, eight rebounds and nine steals. Senior Carley Crownhart had 17 points and six steals, and junior Nikki Tardif had 12 rebounds.
Against Gunnison, Bevington had 14 points and five steals. Tardif and senior Erica Crownhart each had 12 points, including two three-pointers from Crownhart.
The final home game of the season for the Lady Rams is this Saturday at 2:30pm against Grand Valley. The Crownharts, along with seniors Maddie Anderson, Lexy Sanchez and Aberdeen Kennedy will be honored.
“I will certainly miss the seniors,” Vidakovich said. “They have been great leaders and they are a big part of the success of this program.”
Four Basalt wrestlers qualify for state
Wrestling at the 3A Regionals last Friday and Saturday, the Basalt High School boys wrestling team qualified two individuals for the Colorado State Wrestling Championships this coming weekend in Denver.
At 150 pounds, Luca Del Cid took third place with a 14-7 decision over Ben Morfitt of Delta in the third-place match to earn his way to state. In the quarterfinals, Del Cid defeated Morfitt by technical fall, 18-2 in 3 minutes, 51 seconds. He lost the semifinal match to Rifle’s Blake Shaffer by fall in 5:35.
Also qualifying for the Basalt boys was Herberth Requeno at 175 pounds. He claimed the fourth and final qualifying spot after dropping the third-place match to Grand Valley’s Camden Neil due to a medical forfeit.
Finishing out of state qualifying for the Longhorns were Roaney Requeno, sixth place at 126 pounds, Bronze Urfrig, sixth place at 138 pounds, and Drake Cornett, seventh place at 165 pounds.
The Basalt girls wrestled in the 4A Regionals, also on Friday and Saturday last week.
Roselynne Bernal-Rodriguez won the 145-pound class with a technical win over Montezuma-Cortez’s Aubrey Rutherford. Bernal-Rodriguez won her semifinal match by fall in 5:07 over Meeker’s Abigail Amick.
Emely Mejia-Garcia qualified at 100 pounds. She took second place after winning the semifinal match over West Grand’s Heaven Vail by 11-5 decision, then losing the championship match to Soroco’s Addi Whaley by major decision.