Dominating wins over weak teams pad the record and the scorebook, but don’t do much in the statistical game that determines Colorado high school basketball rankings, and ultimately seeding for the postseason.
Take the undefeated Roaring Fork High School girls basketball team, for example.
The Rams, now 12-0 after annihilating Aspen 72-5 Tuesday night, held the No. 2 ranking among Class 3A teams in Colorado last week.
This week, even after crushing wins over a diminished but still defending Western Slope League (WSL) champion Cedaredge Bruins, 64-39, and against Olathe, 72-20, the Rams slipped to No. 6, behind Front Range and Eastern Plains powerhouses Denver Christian, Colorado Springs Christian, Yuma and Wiggins.
A silver lining for the Fork in those kinds of games is an opportunity to build some valuable experience among the players coming off the bench.
Though the starting five still play into the opening minute or two of the fourth quarter, the big leads give head coach Mike Vidakovich a chance to rotate those players in more.
“Obviously, these younger kids are getting varsity experience, which is good,” he said. “Maybe it’s not meaningful minutes in the overall picture, but it is to them.”
The power trio of senior Nikki Tardif and juniors Riley Bevington and Hazel Jenkins lead the way, with support from sophomore Annelise Bumgarner and freshman Abby Harris.
Coming on strong just in time for a run toward a league title and a promising postseason bid are players like sophomores Sydney Ostberg, Abigail O’Keefe and now Lexi Filiss, who returns from an early season injury.
Jan. 15 on the road, the Rams passed the first of two big league tests with the win over Cedaredge.
“I’ve never seen them so intense before a game,” Vidakovich said. “They remember coming up short a couple times last year to Cedaredge, and they were ready to go.”
Bevington finished with 33 points in that one, and is now averaging 31.2 points per game to lead the team. Tardif had 18, two more than her season average, while Jenkins had 13 rebounds.
Jan. 17 at home, the Rams easily handled Olathe; Bevington with 28 points, and Tardif with 22.
The next “stern test,” in the coach’s words, comes on the road at Meeker this Saturday, when the Rams, at 4-0 in league, will take on the fifth-ranked and undefeated (9-0, 4-0) Cowboys for sole possession of the WSL lead heading into the last half of the season.
Boys continue to roll
Meanwhile, Roaring Fork’s boys picked up a pair of key WSL wins last week as well, to claim the top spot at 4-0 in league (9-2 overall).
The Rams defeated Cedaredge on the road Jan. 15, 71-55, and Olathe at home on Jan. 17, 89-67. The leading scorer was senior Lucas Carballeira with 24 and 34 points, respectively, while senior Kiko Pena had 14 and 17, and junior Quentin Galbraith scored 13 and 17.
The Roaring Fork boys are also at Meeker on Saturday in what will be a key game for them as well. That’s followed by a nonleague game at 4A Aspen on Jan. 30, and both Rams teams are home against North Fork on Jan. 31 (2:30pm varsity girls, 4pm varsity boys).