Ball Fever: Looking at some of this week’s best performances in boys basketball
Oooohhhhhh, it’s getting good folks!
We saw our No. 1 4A squad take their first loss in week 7 but they remained the top squad in our poll. We didn’t expect a fall after a loss for the Rangers to a solid 5A squad.
Speaking of 5A, no change there as Rock Canyon just continues to roll as the states undisputed (and undefeated) No. 1.
Let’s get to the early action, week 8:
The Look Back
Monday, Jan. 22
- Dennis Pleuss started the week with a column on Pomona’s football studs transitioning to hoops.
- The Panthers took down Westminster by 17.
- The “Dynamic Duo” of Daylen Kountz and Kwane Marble combined for over 50 combined points in East’s tough road win at Eaglecrest
- “Monsta” double-double sighting as Brendan La Rose scored 27 and pulled down 12 rebounds in Falcons 81-58 road win at Air Academy.
- Sophomore Jaedn Harrison scored 19 and him Cheyenne Mountain mates held Discovery Canyon to 6 fourth quarter points for the win.
Tuesday, Jan. 23
- Quite a fourth quarter for Conifer!
- The place to be, Ball Fever Top Pick, was the 4A top 5 battle between Pueblo South and Pueblo West. Dan Mohrmann has the story on Pueblo South flexing its defensive muscle!
- The “defensive theme” continues with No. 1 Rock Canyon holding 8 points and 2 points in quarters…add Sam Masten’s 27 with back court mate Tyson Gilbert’s 17 you get a 30+ point win over Heritage.
- Erik Grossaint and C Warner joined Trent Dykema in double figure scoring in No. 7 Silver Creek’s win over Centaurus.
- At 14-1, ThunderRidge is No. 2 in our 5A poll and looked that way in a blow out win 88-55 over Castle View.
- Thompson Valley dropped from the 4A top 10 but Longmont is holding steady at No. 5 and a 25-point win with Luke Johnson’s 19 points made a statement!
- Another double-double sighting for Doherty’s Joe Golden with an 18 point, 12 rebound effort in the No. 9 Spartans tough win over Fountain-Fort Carson.
- How about 16 players in the scoring column for No. 5 Denver East in the romp over Kennedy. Everyone got some action!
- Top 10 5A match! Chaparral left no doubt in the 66-39 win over Highlands Ranch. Ronnie DeGray III with 25 points in short minutes on the night.
Wednesday, Jan. 24
- Tristan Pratt dropped 27 points with 5 rebounds in Vista Ridge’s win over Sand Creek by 20.
- Vista Peak with another solid win over Brighton to follow up their upset of Silver Creek last week!
- Our Fever Crew is keeping an eye on this ever improving Valor squad, not at No. 6 4A, who again impressed beating Standley Lake by 19 after a first quarter advantage of 21-8.
- Smoky Hill is eager to prove their fall from the 5A top 10 is only temporary and they took a big step in that direction with a 62-44 win over Cherry Creek rival who was on a bit of a hot streak.
- Upset Alert!! The scoring duo of Matt Ragsdale and Joel Scott were held to a low 13 points combined and No. 1 fell to Palmer Ridge’s stout defense. Palmer Ridge held the Rangers to 4 second quarter points which was the key in the 9-point win.
- “Put it on REPEAT!”. We’ll say it again: this Overland squad has been battle tested with a tough schedule and they had no mercy beating Arapahoe 88-46. The Blazers are up to No. 6 in our poll.
- Hot squads!?? Look no further than No. 3 George Washington who was supposed to be tested by Lincoln on this night but instead they tested the score keeper as they ran up 95 points in the 25-point win. Jon’il Fuggett leads Patriots in points, steals, and assists!
- Grandview slid a bit to No. 7 in 5A but came out strong beating Mullen in league play 69-54.
- Top 10 4A action and Adam Thistlewood showed up big for Golden in the tight 1-point win over Evergreen. Thistlewood scored 20 points and added 7 rebounds.
- Falcon is at the door of the top 10 and Reece Warren’s 15 point, 7 rebound effort helped them to their second solid win of the week by 1-point over Discovery Canyon.
- Eaglecrest, at the door of the 5A top 10, lost a tough one to East on Monday but bounced back nicely in league play with 20-point win over Cherokee Trail.
Mid-Week Thoughts
Lewis-Palmer has a couple of recent losses and Pueblo South’s ultra impressive win over Pueblo West has the LP/P South rematch looking good (maybe at the Coliseum, again?).
Golden continues to look good and Longmont closes out the Fever top 4 this week.
In 5A, Rock Canyon is still “the man” until someone can give them a loss. The Jags are the cream right now but literally any of the squads ranked 2-7 could challenge them on a given night.
But! Challenge doesn’t mean “beat” and we’ll see if RC can remain unbeaten.
Get out and enjoy, folks!
