Ralston Valley girls hoops closes out win over Columbine

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA — A couple of steals that led to breakaway layups in the closing seconds of the rst quarter gave Ralston Valley’s girls basketball team the push it needed Feb. 1.

Ralston Valley took a 51-45 home victory over Columbine, but the Rebels looked to be able to at least take a rst-quarter lead. Steals by freshman Mia Alfaro and junior Sophia Sabus led to a 4-point swing to give the Mustangs a 11-9 lead heading into the second quarter.

“We talk about a lot how defense end leads to o ense end,” Sabus said. “In moments like that when it is getting a bit little closer playing hard on defense leads to good things.”

Sabus was her normal steady self scoring a game-high 16 points, including 6 points in the nal quarter as Ralston Valley (13-6, 4-3 in Class 6A Je co League) held o a late charge by Columbine (9-11, 4-3).

Ralston Valley got some nice balance scoring with 16 points o the bench.

“We had nine girls scored is what Coach said,” Sabus said. “ at helps a lot with pressure o me and the other guards.”

Senior Elyssa Cardella (11 points) hit a big 3-pointer for the Mustangs in the fourth quarter. Ralston Valley’s young freshmen also made an impact.

“ ose three freshmen came in and did a great job,” Ralston Valley coach Amy Bahl said.

Bahl was pleased with how Alfaro, along with fellow freshmen Karsyn Kline and Sammi Madden preformed when they subbed in during the rst quarter. Alfaro had the steal and layup in the rst quarter. Kline played solid defense in the post while scoring 4 points. Madden drained back-to-back 3-pointer midway through the third quarter that helped the Mustangs extend their lead to double-digits.

“Everyone has to be able to step up at any moment. It can’t just be one person,” Bahl said. “If you become one-demential its becomes tough to score.”

Columbine was led by senior Dakota Archuleta (14 points) and junior Emily Allison (11 points). Freshman Kortney Brock also showed her promising future with 13 points on the night, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second half that allowed the Rebels to cut the Mustangs’ lead to 4 points.

“Columbine is a good team,” Sabus said. “We just had to trust what we are doing. It ended up working out.” e entire 6A Je co League is looking up to No. 1 ranked Valor Christian, however Arvada West did do the rest of the conference a favor Feb. 1. e Wildcats (15-4, 4-3) handed Valor a 66-56 home loss. e Eagles (16-2, 6-1) had its 37game Je co League winning streak snapped with the defeat. Valor winning streak in league play dated back to the 2017-18 season when the Eagles were in the 4A Je co League.

Despite the loss, Valor still had the inside track to the league title. e Eagles have a 2-game lead and holds the tiebreak over Ralston Valley having already defeated the Mustangs twice.

“We just want to nish out the league strong,” Sabus said.

A-West put a damper on that strong league nish for Ralston Valley. e Wildcats defeated the Mustangs 66-56 on Feb. 4 to nearly assure that Valor will win the league title.

Dennis Pleuss is the sports information director for Je co Public Schools. For more Je co coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.