We covered the early tourney play heating on Thursday and now it’s time to take a look at how the tourney finals along with non league action closed out!
The Look Back
Thursday, Dec. 8
How do you top beating 5A No. 1 Eaglecrest in Colorado? How about taking the Rock Canyon show on the road and beating Brackenridge, Texas 79-56! Many people will be asking, “Who’s that No. 5 for the Jags?” … and that question was truly relevant in Texas when Sam Masten scored 42 points in a mystery jersey while luggage was at the airport! Cool story for the ages. We got to chat with junior star Masten and he simply said beating Eaglecrest, a 5-0 week, and scoring 42 “was simply a week I’ll remember for a long time!” Sam’s a man of few words and we have the feeling he knows there’s still work to be done despite this blazing start.
Our 4A No. 3 Sand Creek is led by star D’Shawn Schwartz which has been documented but fellow seniors David Jabedo and Jeffrey Gary scored 18 and 25 points respectively proving this is not a one man show! Four-point win over Widefield in tourney play.
Five contributing seniors is going to make this Vista PEAK team a tough out in 4A play. A 12-point tourney win over Coronado with Dylan Holt scoring a steady 11 points.
Monarch oh-so-close to getting over the hump as junior Tyler Trinh poured in 25 points but not enough to stop Pine Creek in overtime with Q Gutierrez scoring 27 in the win.
Noah Beatty is as steady as they come in senior-point guards scoring 16 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals for Vista Ridge while running mate Hunter Maldonado, who was covered this week, scored 27 in win over Fountain Fort Carson.
Chaparral has a ton of young talent and four sophomores led the way topped with Ronnie DeGray Jr.’s 24 points as the Wolverines ran away from Grand Junction.
Regis Raiders are on the road as well in California and came up short to St Patrick-St Vincent despite Sam Bannec’s 19 points.
The Far Northeast (Montbello) Warriors have a special senior play maker who we believe has the ability to play at the next level and Dan Morhmann caught Aaris Bonds skills on display has he hit the game winner vs. Rampart
Balanced and tough is one way to describe Rock Canyon and with four players in double figures the Jags went 2-0 in Texas beating McArthur by 4 jumping out in the first quarter 14-6.
Senior Connor Hobbs scored 23 on the west coast visit helping Regis get on track with a 14-point tourney win over Serra (CA).
Junior Noah Martinez was a hot 8-11 from the field as Falcon beat Mitchell by 14.
Score Keeper Alert!! Pueblo Centennial kept the table working running up 105 points as a team vs. Moffat County. Senior R. Vaughn led all with 26 points.
Rivalry game … but a 23-5 second quarter advantage along with Sierra’s CJ Jennings 24 points took down Palmer.
Seniors Jalen Sanders and Kaylen Knuckles both scored in the 20’s as No. 3 Valor left no doubt in blowout of Grand Junction.
Broomfield was tough throughout the Fairview Festival and beat the host in the third place game 61-56.
With a stud-point guard and stud big man inside you can get a lot done on a high school court. That is exactly the foundation for Grandview this year as Lechaun Duhart runs the show and fellow senior Gage Prim takes care of the paint. Both scored in double figures as the Wolves won the A-Town battle vs. Rangeview.
Looking for a possible new No. 1 to give Rock Canyon competition? Look no further than the GW Patriots, who have a win over the Jags and packed the house Friday night vs. defending champ Overland. Jervay Green stole the show on this night and was the buzz all over Twitter with this electrifying dunk that was part of his game-high 18 points.
Senior vs. Sophomore action! Ronnie DeGray III was back and forth vs. the veteran-point guard Brevin Brimble and DeGray’s 26 points wasn’t enough as Doherty locked down in the fourth quarter for the win.
Charles Dinegar 8-11 with 20 points as 4A No. 8 D’Evelyn finished strong beating Fort Morgan.
Not a shootout by any means but these two teams who will get some upsets battled to a 42-35 football score as ThunderRidge edged Cherry Creek in tourney play with Corey Seng scoring 18.
Our Fever Crew has mentioned we love Jaize Lottie’s leadership and ability to get in the paint making the Cougars our sleeper to advance late in the season and Friday night Tim Visser caught him “stat-stuffin” again as Deon Barfield sealed it with the last-second tip.
Centennial League, and all of 5A for that matter, please take notice of young Smoky Hill coming your way! The Buffaloes also traveled this week for out of state competition and took down the No. 1 team in Utah perennial power Lone Peak 68-64. Way to rep on the road Smoky Hill! The Buffs will climb the 5A rankings quickly.
The late night treat on Friday was the Fairview Festival title game where DPL rivals East and South battled. Big 7-foot-2 sophomore Asane Diouf had a bit of a coming out party controlling the paint with 21 points and 10 rebounds leading the Angels to the tourney championship 72-57. Kwane Marble, the Angels’ leading scorer this season as a sophomore, also added 15. Although Marble is handling heavy scoring duty he credits defense saying, “We didn’t like the way last season ended so we push hard everyday in practice. We work hard on defense, put a lot of effort in on defense because that’s what it will take to keep going undefeated.” For the Rebels, sharp shooting senior Tucker Cargile scored 15 points in the loss.
Saturday, Dec. 10
Tim Visser/timvisserphotography.com
The Bison are hot! Vista PEAK now has two tournament championships under their belt in the early season and convincingly beat Manual with seniors Dylan Holt and Marquise Johnson both scoring 16.
Tim Visser was our man on the scene as Jalen Sanders led four Eagles in double digit scoring with 23 points, 10 rebounds in No. 2 Valor’s win over Rocky Mountian.
Mesa Ridge has been putting up some major points and this time it was 95-44 over Palisade!
The Angels continue to impress early following up the Fairview title game with a throttling of Hinkley 77-36. Smooth sophomore Kwane Marble led once again with 22 points. Our Fever Crew caught up with Marble and were impressed by his mature approach to the game and leading as a sophomore. Marble stated, “It feels good to be the leading scorer as a sophomore but my team pushes me as hard as they can … on and off the floor. On the floor they get me the ball where they know I will succeed.” Up next for the Angels is a trip to Las Vegas for a tourney at hoops landmark Bishop Gorman High School. “We are extremely excited for our trip to Vegas,” Marble said. “We will play as hard as we can because we have something to prove and want to represent for Colorado.” He noted that the team hasn’t reached it’s peak.
Warrior defense kicked in fourth quarter in the annual Arapahoe vs. Dakota Ridge Saturday fun with Kyle Lucasiewicz scoring 21 in the win along with 12 assists! Sweet double-double the hard way Kyle!
Cherry Creek doubled-up young Chaparral 22-11 in the first quarter and never looked back in 62-48 tourney win.
What a week for No. 2 Rock Canyon! The Jags finished their San Antonio visit 4-0, winning the tourney title over South San Antonio 64-49. Seniors Colin Rardin and Sam Masten score 19 and 18 respectively.
A grueling and physical tournament seemed to have taken a toll on No. 3 Sand Creek who was upset by Pueblo Central in tournament play cooling off the Scorpions.
Young sophomore shooter Jamil Saffiediene came to play scoring 17 for Regis in California but the Raiders suffered a loss to Clayton Valley Charter 72-64.
HELLO Kaison Hammonds! How about 38 points for the junior as No. 4 ThunderRidge held court vs. a tough Doherty team 68-57.
Smoky Hill continues to impress and junior Will Becker was a double-double machine on their successful tourney road trip! 66-52 over Wakefield.
J. Binkerhoff led four D’Evelyn players in double figures with 16 in the fourteen-point win over Longmont.
As mentioned previously, Grandview is not deep but with LeChaun Duhart scoring 31 and big man Gage Prim 24 they get it done again vs. a strong Mountain Vista squad to close Saturday out!
The Look Ahead
John Priest/CHSAANow.com
Monday, Dec. 12
The big games this week starts with Boulder visiting an Eaglecrest squad that won’t be happy!
Thomas Jefferson vs. Valor.
Castle View vs. Palmer if you’re down south!
Horizon and Mountain Range face off with 4 wins each early.
Tuesday, Dec. 13
Rampart and undefeated Grandview.
Dakota Ridge vs. Doherty.
Longmont vs. unbeaten Green Mountain.
Mountain Vista vs. Fossil Ridge.
Two HOT teams in Smoky HIll vs. GW!
Vista PEAK looks to stay hot vs. Lewis Palmer.
Arapahoe seniors vs. Chaparral youth!
Holy Family and Sierra both 3-1.
Kolton Peterson for Lakewood and Corey Seng for ThunderRidge will let the 3’s fly!
Overland visits another tough spot for Rock Canyon’s return from Texas.
FNE (Montbello) Warriors will attempt to race Chatfield!
Wednesday, Dec. 14
Don’t look now but Ponderosa and Sand Creek both 5-1.
Wheat Ridge, 3-1 early, takes on Harrison.
Praire View vs. Mountain Range.
Thursday, Dec. 15
Castle View and Columbine tangle.
Things get private between Colorado Academy and Mullen.
Green Mountian & Rocky Mountain.
Denver South playing well sees Rampart’s size.
Doherty and Mountain Vista will put up some points!
Chatfield vs. Fossil Ridge.
Friday, Dec. 16
Lakewood vs. Regis looks good!
Rock Canyon vs. Dakota Ridge.
Cherry Creek vs. Rangeview Aurora flavor!
On the road Denver East takes on Bishop Gorman.
Saturday, Dec. 17
Pueblo County vs. Mead
Centaurus vs. Vista PEAK.
Legend vs. Doherty.
Arapahoe vs. Arvada West.
Braggin’ Rights: Rangeview vs. Smoky Hill
What a week of outstanding performances on our Colorado courts but the Fever Crew was thoroughly impressed with how some of our squads performed on the national tourney stage as well. Looking forward to another action packed week of ball!
