Ralston Valley girls hoops get defensive in playo opener

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA — Ralston Valley’s girls basketball team seemed to put a lid on whichever basket Horizon was shooting at Feb. 21.

e No. 13-seeded Mustangs (17-8 record) held No. 20 Horizon (15-8) to 5 points in the rst, second and fourth quarters, including not giving up a eld goal in the nal quarter.

Ralston Valley grabbed a 44-28 victory to punch its ticket to the round of 16 in the Class 6A state tournament.

“Our game plan going in was take away (Natalie ornton and Morgan Ives),” Ralston Valley coach Amy Bahl said. “We wanted to put more attention on them because they are the heartbeat of their o ense. If we could stop that a little bit they struggle.”

Horizon’s junior guards came on combining for more than 25 points per game. ornton was held to 5 points and Ives to 7 points.

Ralston Valley on the other hand came out hot with a 10-0 run in the rst quarter that opened up an early 13-2 lead. Seniors Finley Timon, Elysaa Cardella, along with freshman Sammi Madden each had a 3-pointer in the rst four minutes.

“Coach (Bahl) always says we have to start out strong. at last few games haven’t been super strong in the shooting,” Cardella said. “ is

Ashley game we came out shooting well. It was awesome.” e Mustangs were held under 30 points in their regular-season nale Feb. 18, a 35-29 loss to Doherty.

“I’ve been telling our girls that they are capable of knocking down those shots,” Bahl said of the Mustangs making their rst three 3-pointers.

“ ey were con dent, came up and made them.”

Cardella poured in a game-high 18 points, including going 5-for-6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Junior Sophia Sabus had 9 points all after halftime to help the Mustangs to the rst-round win.

“ ere is a direct correlation there,” Bahl said of Cardella’s big night o ensively. “She goes we go. We feed o that. She can been a force. We need her to be a force and when she is good things happen.” e rst-round playo game was a rematch from an early-season game. Ralston Valley defeated Horizon 64-52 during the Best in the Nest Tournament hosted by Horizon. e Mustangs outscored the Hawks 2010 in the nal quarter to pull away.

Ralston Valley had the task of going on the road and facing No. 4 Monarch on Friday, Feb. 24, in the round of 16. e Coyotes (24-1) were on a 17-game winning streak after defeating Mullen 60-42 in the opening round.

“We played them before so we know each other well,” Cardella said of Monarch. “We didn’t have a super good game against them. Hopefully it goes better.”

Monarch defeated Ralston Valley 48-35 on Jan. 6.

It went a little better for the Mustangs, but not good enough. Monarch took a 54-48 victory over Ralston Valley to advance to the Great 8 this week and the Denver Coliseum.

No. 1 Valor was the only 6A Je co League team to advance to the state quarter nals. e Eagles defeated Mountain Vista and Legend to make the Great 8. No. 16 Arvada West, No. 24 Columbine and No. 31 Chat eld saw their seasons come to an end with rst-round playo losses.

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