Ball Fever: Boys hoops teams show well at out-of-state tourneys; good in-state action

The midweek Ball Fever report gave us a glimpse of the non-league, tourney action, and CO teams traveling out of state.

Let’s finish up with one top squad winning a tourney in California, Golden’s journey to Alaska, Fairview in Cali as well along with a ton of good in-state stuff!

The Look Back

Thursday, Dec. 14

Pueblo South Lewis-Palmer boys basketball

Dan Mohrmann caught the ultra impressive No. 1 Lewis-Palmer as they slowed No. 3 Pueblo South in a 4A top-5 match.
Dennis Pleuss with the coverage of Castle View getting things turned around in the Columbine tourney.
The Greeley tournament has kicked off as well and Fruita Monument’s Trey Morrill scored 16 points as the Wildcats took down Mountain View out of Loveland.
Faiview pulled off a 6-point win over Albany (CA) while traveling!
Lincoln got a much needed win over Cheyenne East (WY) despite junior Erik Oliver scoring 25 for the guys from Cheyenne.
Senior led squad at Rampart and the guard combo of Xavier Johnson and Josh Kavalec combined for 48 points in the win over Denver South.
Pueblo West, No. 6 in 4A, didn’t have enough for Palmer’s juniors Isaiah Robinson (18 points) and Darien Meyers (22 points) in the Terrors 11-point win.
Senior C. Tolentino poured in 22 points for Fountain-Fort Carson as they got the jump on Monarch by 15 in the Columbine Tourney.
Adam Thistlewood said “hello!” to Alaska with 18 points and the Demons showed CO teams can play some defense, winning 77-36.
Eaglecrest had four players in double figures led by soph Zion Ruckard’s 13 in the 18 point win over Fort Collins.
Our No. 1 squad Rock Canyon let the state of CA know they were “in the house!” as they opened with an 87-29 win over Pacifica in their west coast tournament.

Friday, Dec. 15

No. 8 Regis unleashed on Lakewood in a blowout …
Columbine lost another close one! This time in OT to Monarch.
“Braggin rights” on the line down south in Sierra vs. Sand Creek and the Stallions used a 29-14 fourth-quarter advantage to lock down the win with Derrian Reed’s 22 point, 9 rebound effort!
Competition got tougher for the No. 1 Jaguars but that didn’t stop them as Sam Masten scored 26 for Rock Canyon in the 18 point win over Buchanon from Clovis CA.
Top-10 5A Friday night action is lovely and Overland visiting ThunderRidge did not disappoint as the game was tight the entire way through but Grizzlies senior Justin McCaw scored 23 helping No. 5 T-Ridge keep the advantage here. Overland 0-4 but no team has played a tougher schedule in the early season.
Watch out for young sophomore Isaiah Hayes, who put up 17 points for Rangeview in a tight 3-point win over Cherry Creek. Bright futures for both of these young squads!
Our Fever Crew had an eye on this one as Ponderosa came in hot and 7-0 but ran into an angry Pueblo South (No. 3 in 4A) who had just lost to No. 1 Lewis-Palmer the previous night. Well, lets just say Pondo’s unbeaten record did NOT phase the Colts as they one by a one-sided 69-32!
Highlands Ranch got extremely defensive holding Lincoln to single digits in three of the four quarters blowing the Lancers out 65-33.
Golden, No. 2 in 4A, got a much tougher test in Alaska on this night pulling out a 2-point win over Ketchikan with seniors Joe Madsen and Jack Moore scoring 14 points each.
We have a “monsta” double-double sighting from Montbello’s (FNE) senior Malik Fofana who scored 21 points and added 16 rebounds in the Warriors 17-point win over Westminster.

Saturday, Dec. 16

- Saturday’s biggest bang was made by 5A No. 1 Rock Canyon who won the title game of the 15th Annual “Clash on the Coast” in CA. Senior UNC Greeley hoops commit Sam Masten, scored more than 20 points in his third straight game en route to being named tournament MVP after the final 70-42 win over Westlake. Way to represent CO Rock Canyon Jags!
- Buzzer beating action in Arapahoe/Dakota Ridge caught by Dennis Pleuss!
- Our Fever Crew has Chaparral ranked as high as No. 2 and they haven’t let us down staying unbeaten with an exciting last-second finish on this nice “dime” by Ronnie DeGray III to seal the win over always tough Eaglecrest.DeGray finished with another 21 point, 11 rebound double-double.

Final bucket of the game. @Ronnie_DeGray23 with the unselfish and pretty assist to @tizzylewis1. Ronnie had 21pts, 11reb, 4ast. Tizell had 12pts. @kobesanderss had 10pts and 5ast. pic.twitter.com/BnQZrC34sD

— Chap Hoops (@Chap_Hoops) December 16, 2017

Grandview has faced a tough non-league schedule early and stayed on the winning track beating Rampart by 8, led by senior Ben Boone who scored 18 points and was perfect from the 3-point line.
George Washington, No. 4 in 5A, lost this week in their first Aurora visit but not in visit number two at Hinkley, who they humbled 75-17. Sophomore Devin Carter led in scoring with 13 and senior D’Auntray Pierce took care of the paint with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 big blocks!
Columbine hosted their annual tournament and closed out the week with a solid win over Fountain-Fort Carson 52-31 with seinior Braxton Baum scoring 14.
No. 5 ThunderRidge only has one loss to a tough Chap squad and they continue the early season run as they cruised to a 71-32 thumping of Ralston Valley.
Broomfield with a 27-point statement over 4A No. 5 Holy Family! Big win for the Eagles.
Fairview dropped to 3-4 on the season after a heartbreaking 1-point loss to Sacred Heart Prep of San Francisco 86-85. Strong overall trip to CA for the Knights!
Another tough end to a looooong road trip where Golden lost a tough 74-72 game to Ketchikan in Alaska and it took overtime!
Highlands Ranch closed out the P2P Winter Tourney with an 11-point win over Cheyenne East.
In the final game of the week Alijah Bates 16 points helped Doherty hold off Legend who tried to battle back with a big fourth quarter but fell short by 3.