The Roaring Fork High School (RFHS) boys and girls basketball teams both got off to a good start this week, winning their season openers against Rifle on Tuesday night.
Playing at home, the Rams boys took down the Bears 70-64. Junior Lucas Carballeira had 22 points, junior Ethan Wilson 15 and sophomore Quentin Galbraith and junior Kiko Pena each scored 13 in the contest.
Traveling to Rifle for their matchup, the Roaring Fork girls — ranked ninth in the state among 3A teams in a pre-season coaches poll — dominated with a 67-38 win. Game stats were not immediately available.
The outcomes bode well as both Rams teams prepared to host their annual Brenda Patch Tournament this Thursday-Saturday at RFHS, inviting teams from across the state for some early season competition.
Boys head coach Jason Kreiling said he’s excited for the season, and is especially pleased to see 40 student-athletes out for basketball — up from around 25-30 in recent years.
“We have a lot of guys coming back,” he said of a program that lost just two seniors to graduation after an 11-12 season and a 3A regional playoff berth last year after finishing second in the Western Slope League at 8-4.
“I think this year’s this year is going to be fun,” Kreiling said. “I have some high expectations, for sure. We have guys that already know the system and who live and breathe basketball and know how to compete, and just want to win.”
Anchored by senior leaders Luis Andrade, Sam Brennan, Lawson Kreiling and Grimm Briston, the Rams also have a core group of younger players who saw ample playing time last year. They include Pena, Wilson, Carballeira and Galbraith.
“We’re no longer a young team, so I’d like to see us get up and down the board a little faster and be a little more aggressive this year,” coach Kreiling said.
His team opens the Patch Tournament at 7:30pm Thursday against Banning Lewis Academy, with the winner advancing to the late game on Friday. Also participating in the tournament on the boys side are Grand Valley, Basalt and Plateau Valley.
Ladies return starting core
Numbers are also up for second-year Rams girls coach Mike Vidakovich’s squad, which also lost only two seniors from last year’s team.
“We’ve got 21, which is up from 17 last year, and most of that team is back,” he said.
Last year, the Lady Rams went 16-8 overall and finished at 10-4 in the always-competitive 3A Western Slope League, taking third in league and then advancing to the regional title game before falling 64-56 to Highland.
Returning for the Rams are seniors Erica and Carley Crownhart and Maddie Anderson, junior Nikki Tardif and sophomore Riley Bevington, who all saw starting minutes last year. Senior Lexy Sanchez, junior Jenna Ostberg and sophomores Hazel Jenkins and Kennedy Arnold should also see ample playing time this season, Vidakovich said.
“And we have four freshmen who will be on varsity,” he said of the Rams’ developmental corps that will add depth off the bench.
“I know the expectations are pretty high,” he said of the pre-season ranking, “but we’ve just talked a lot about the usual cliche stuff. You always hope for the scoreboard to be favorable at the end of the game, but we have to focus on the things we can control.
“We play fast and we press, but we need to cut down on the turnovers. That was really an Achilles heel last year,” Vidakovich said.
The girls open the Patch Tournament at 3:30pm Thursday against intra-district rival Basalt, with the winner advancing to the late game on Friday for the right to play for the tournament championship on Saturday. Other girls teams in the tournament include Rifle, Palisade, Steamboat Springs and defending league champion Grand Valley.