Ball Fever: Recapping the early part of this week in boys basketball
Early upsets of our top rated 5A squads ruled the day early in the week as our top 4A squads flexed their muscles and remained unbeaten.
Let’s check it out!
The Look Back
Monday, Jan. 28
- Javonte Johnson was “stat-stuffin” as Cheyenne Mountain got the week rolling with a 86-52 drubbing of Falcon and Johnson posted 23 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals in the win!
- Wheat Ridge, holding at No. 10 in 4A, pulled away from Bear Creek with a 21-6 third quarter advantage in a game that started close but ended 73-39 at Bear Creek.
- Rogers, Kline, and Lindebad all in double figure scoring led by Josh Rogers 16 in A-West’s 22-point home win over rival Pomona!
- ELEVEN players contributing to the stat sheet Harrison is showing balance and now 14-4 after beating Elizabeth by 21 with Sanchez, Archuleta, and Dawson all scoring in double figures on the road!
Tuesday, Jan. 29
The Fever Crew made it out to Regis as they hosted No. 1 Chaparral on a cold night!
The gym heated up quickly as big Matt Wheelock started off the home Raiders with 14 first half points and 18 overall including a huge late three!
Jamil Safieddiene also heated up as the game went on doing damage while Chap’s Kobe Sanders was in foul trouble finishing the game with 22 overall. Joseph Dalton hit three deep 3s and 11 points total along with Bryce Matthews 23 to lead all scorers in the tight last second loss.
See the full game and Payton Egloff’s game winning free throw here.
In other games:
- What makes No. 1 Lewis-Palmer so scary is they have multiple guys who can get it done any given night and Ethan Forrester’s 24 helped to keep the unbeaten streak alive 71-35 over Vista Ridge.
- After seeing Mead in person last week there’s no surprise to us that they jumped from No. 10 to No. 4 in our 4A poll and they continued strong play with a 12-point win at WIndsor with Caleb Ayers leading FIVE scorers in double figures with 16!
- Centaurus dropped one notch in the 4A poll from No. 9 to No. 8 but it may be hard to hold that spot after going down by 22 to Silver Creek.
- Talk about getting done on both ends of the floor! Unbeaten No. 2 Longmont rolls 93-33 over Thompson Valley with Dallas Dye’s 20 points leading FIVE Trojans in double figure scoring.
- No. 6 ThunderRidge got 16 from junior Justin Smith who led four Grizz in double figure scoring beating league foe Ponderosa by 22 at home.
- With only one loss Mountain Vista is in at No. 3 this week and got 21 points from Ben Grusing (and four other Eagles scored in double figures) as they ran up 89 points on Douglas County!
- Speaking of running up points! Denver East rang up 96 on visiting Lincoln in a battle of two teams who have eyes on a DPL title. Clayton Findley-Ponds was feeling it on this night as he poured in 28 of the 96 for the Angels.
- Holy Family dropped a couple notches to No. 5 in our 4A poll but got defensive once again holding Fort Morgan to single digits in two of the four quarters leading to a 55-40 win.
- Nicholas Bassett and Javonte Johnson combined for 36 points providing the scoring punch needed for an 18 point impressive win over Discovery Canyon.
Wednesday, Jan. 30
9News Game of the Night was a good one and we were blessed to be their in person and a guest of the live broadcast. Caleb McGill did everything he could to help No. 2 Grandview protect home court vs. visiting No. 7 Overland in this 5A Top 10 battle of giants but it was the inside/out combo of Hezekiah Swanson and Graham Ike that got it done on the road for the Trailblazers in this slight upset.
Swanson confidently pulling up mid-range for jump shots and Graham showing off his greatly improved inside footwork and touch around the rim.
The Trailblazers brought a great crowd and a ton of energy from coaches and sideline in the 3-point win where McGill just missed a shot to send it to overtime for the Wolves at the buzzer. Check out the full action here.
In other games:
- No. 9 Centaurus got 26 from junior Owen Koonce en route to a 10-point victory over Mountain View.
- Senior Beck Page led unbeaten No. 2 Longmont to another double digit win…this time over Silver Creek!
- No. 9 Eaglecrest used their duo of Aaron Bokol and Ty Robinson to carry them once again combining for 34 points in the 15-point win over Cherokee Trail in league play.
- Ralston Valley has been on a nice run of late and took a “furious” comeback for Columbine to get the win per Dennis Pleuss.
- Smoky Hill tuning up for a big rematch vs. Grandview on Friday tuned up vs. Cherry Creek getting a double-digit win
- And talk about “gettin up!” did Kenny Foster hit is head on the backboard on this alley oop???? Kenny doing “Kenny thangz”
Smoky Hill 75, Cherry Creek 62
Final pic.twitter.com/1Q8jEQMIL5— Smoky Hill Hoops (@SmokyHillHoops) January 31, 2019
Midweek Thoughts
The Fever Crew has never been one to “flip flop” but this crazy fun season of hoops has us thinking the “cream is clearly rising” one week and then it’s back to “this is WIDE open” another week!
Hey, wide open is a lot more fun anyway, right?
We see about six teams that could rise to the top come March in 5A and those are mainly in the Centennial and Continental leagues that are just beating each other up on a nightly basis!
4A? That picture seems to be a little more clear with Longmont and Lewis-Palmer still trucking along, but our “team to watch” this week 4A is a deep squad from Mead!
Enjoy, folks…
