Ball Fever: A snowstorm can’t put a damper on boys basketball’s great matchups
Our National Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and a late-January Tuesday “blizzard” slowed some of our early Week 8 action but believe there was plenty for our mid-week report!
The Look Back
Monday, Jan. 21
With the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday upon us we only had one major 5A/4A game on the docket and it was No. 3 Mountain Vista welcoming Fountain-Fort Carson along I-25 North!
FFC was more than ready for the task jumping out by ten points 24-14 in the first quarter but we know that no Bob Wood-coached team is afraid to run and the Eagles took the second quarter 22-9 and never looked back winning by 9. Ben Grusing paced the Eagles with 19 points in the win.
Tuesday, Jan. 22
- Centaurus has moved up to 4A No. 8 in our new poll and they started this week right beating Niwot by 22 on the road with senior Nate Totel dropping 29 points with 8 rebounds.
- Greeley Central dropped a bit in 4A but 32 points from Jackson Hayslip and a 14-point win over Thompson Valley gets them going week 8.
- Joe Lombardelli scored 22 points but he needed more help from the crew as Northridge got thumped by defending champ No. 2 Longmont by 46!
- A “FoCo/Boulder” match and 5A No. 8 Fairview didn’t play fair putting it on Fort Collins by 31!
- Mead has worked its way into the 4A top-10, has a HUGE game with Holy Family this week, and start with a 90-65 win over Erie.
- No. 3 Holy Family? They held Skyline to single digits in 3 of 4 quarters en route to a 49-30 road win. The Tigers look ready for Mead!
- Lincoln is at No. 6 now in our 4A poll and our Ball Fever buddy, Marty Cesario, was all over it in his coverage of the Lancers/Spartans “city” battle that saw Lincoln put this away with big plays from Ty Foster down the stretch to win a close one over Thomas Jefferson
"He's just a point guard deluxe." – HC Dre Calloway on the go-ahead Steal/Score/and-1 by Ty Foster with :30.7 remaining. @coloradopreps
— Marty Cesario (@martycesario) January 23, 2019
Wednesday, Jan. 23
- Ball Fever (and everyone’s) game of the night was Cheyenne Mountain visiting No. 1 pound for pound “big dog” Lewis Palmer and Joel Scott did his thing on the defensive end as well as leading all scorers with 24 … check out “Digital Dan’s” coverage!
- 5A No. 3, 15-1 Mountain Vista, was off in their biggest game at Chap but no rust has been seen in any other match this season! They raced to a 22-point win over Heritage to keep their Continental hopes alive.
- A little “don’t look now” action with Regis finding their groove, unbeaten in league play, and Daniel Carr “monsta” double-double of 34 points 18 rebounds has the Raiders knocking on that 5A top-10 door again and beat Douglas County by 10 at home.
- Our guy, Marty Cesario, busy in the streets again and this time caught big Zeke Van Tuyl’s overtime put back that helped Wheat Ridge to a tight 56-55 win over Evergreen. On a Ball Fever “side note,” we’ve had the pleasure of knowing the Van Tuyl family for many years and everyone should crack a smile knowing they are currently offering free meals to the Federal Workers affected by the government shutdown…great family and their big 6-foot-10 big man did his part this night too! Love it…
@coloradopreps
Final: Class 4A #MBB (OT)
(13-3, 6-0) Wheat Ridge 56
(10-5, 3-3) Evergreen 55Zeke Van Tuyl put-back at :33 in OT
— Marty Cesario (@martycesario) January 24, 2019
- Chaparral has returned to the No. 1 spot in 5A, getting healthy, and hit their stride at Castle View winning by 16. The Wolverines are unbeaten in league and got big man Bryce Matthews back on the court, which is bad news for everyone else! Castle View is battling but yet to get a Continental league win…
- Pueblo West now 12-4 and Pueblo County now 4-12 headed in opposite directions and the Cyclones hold on to their No. 5 spot in 4A unbeaten in league action after this 69-34 thumpin’.
- Overland, No. 5 in 5A, has fallen to Mullen but more importantly it drops the Trailblazers to 3-4 in league play…same league record as the Mustangs in this HUGE win for them, UPSET CITY at home is fun!
- If defense is your thing…No. 2 Grandview had it for you tonight only allowing single digits in every quarter of the 58-23 defeat of Cherokee Trail in league play Wednesday!
- Another tough game in the Centennial, where No. 10 Eaglecrest knocked off No. 4 Smoky Hill, 82-80. Aarkon Bokol with 34 points for the Raptors! Photos from the game are available here.
Mid-Week Thoughts:
Just simple honesty in tonight’s mid-week “brain racing”! We have no doubts that there is a team just waiting to surprise all the “experts” but right now a 5A Chaparral/Grandview and 4A Lewis-Palmer/Longmont matchups seem to be popular and on the horizon but we can’t wait to see who may upset that easy preview…there’s someone out there!
Get out and enjoy, folks.
