18-Sports
18 Highlands Ranch Herald
SPORTS
February 26, 2015
Teams seek small victories amid big losses Lessons for both sides of blowouts in high school girls basketball By Jim Benton
jbenton @coloradocommunitymedia.com Heritage coach Steph Rogers encourages her players to ignore the scoreboard. Arvada coach Justin Carpenter uses teambuilding activities. Lopsided scores in high school basketball this season, particularly in the girls game, have presented challenges for coaches on both the winning and losing sides. It’s common to see metro-area girls games decided by 20 points or more — sometimes, a lot more. Blowout scores of 83-27, 75-8 and 52-9, just to name a few, have been recorded this season. That makes it hard for the winning coaches to have their team focus on what they have practiced and keep starters in the game. Losing coaches have to be concerned about not letting their players get embarrassed and discouraged. Rogers’ Eagles have been on both sides, notching a 43-point victory and absorbing 43- and 44-point Continental League defeats. “It’s easy to tell your team to work on different things if you’re playing a team that doesn’t have the talent that you do,” said Rogers, whose team finished the regular season 10-13, rebounding from winning a combined six games the past two years. “You stop pressing or trapping and work on the fundamentals of the game. “The other side is hard. I just try and tell my players during the game that I’m not looking at the score. I’m looking at us and Blowout continues on Page 24
Rock Canyon sophomore Michaela Ham, left, and team manager Eva Lopez can’t bear to watch in the second half of the Jaguars’ 66-45 Continental League loss to Highlands Ranch on Feb. 19. Photo by Jim Benton
Six Continental League teams earn byes ONLINE
Area girls and boys high school basketball teams positioned well in tourney Staff report
To see the full brackets and follow the action through the tournament, go to www.colorado coummunity media.com/ 2015statebasketball.html
Continental League boys and girls teams secured good seeds in the Class 5A state basketball playoff brackets that were released Feb. 22. ThunderRidge, which has lost two of its past three games, still managed to get a No. 1 seed in the boys brackets; No. 2 seeds included Mountain Vista and
Legend. Chaparral and Rock Canyon were No. 3 seeds. The Continental League ended up with six boys teams getting first round byes. The four seeded teams in the four brackets of the 48-team tourney drew byes into the second round. In the girls 5A brackets, Highlands Ranch and ThunderRidge gained top seeds while Cherry Creek and Arapahoe were No. 2 seeds. First round games in the boys tournament were played Feb. 25 with the second round scheduled for Feb. 28. In first round games involving south
Metro boys teams, Fountain Fort Carson played at Castle View, Aurora Central played at Heritage, Rocky Mountain visited Cherry Creek, Arapahoe traveled to Doherty and Highlands Ranch was at Chatfield. First-round games in the Class 5A girls tournament were played Feb. 24 with the second round set for Feb. 27. The four seeded teams in the four brackets got tickets into the second round via byes. Seven South metro girls teams had first-round games. Prairie View was at Castle View, Columbine played at Chaparral, Mountain Range was at Mountain
Vista, Rock Canyon played at Horizon, Douglas County was at Dakota Ridge, Gateway went to Legend and Heritage played at Cherokee Trail. In the 32-team 4A tournament brackets, both the Valor Christian girls and boys teams earned second seeds. Denver North’s girls play at Valor Christian Feb. 27 and Sweet 16 games are set for Feb. 28. Littleton has a first round game, at Durango and Elizabeth goes to Sand Creek. Mountain View plays at Valor Christian on Feb. 27 in a first round Class 4A boys tournament game while Elizabeth plays at Holy Family.
Second at state nothing to sweat for ThunderRidge senior Matt Stanley reaches goal; Mountain Vista sophomore nabs second By Jim Benton
jbenton @coloradocommunitymedia.com
Matthew Stanley of ThunderRidge works to get away from Jacob Seely of Fruity during the 195-pound championship match at the Feb. 21 state wrestling finals. Seely won the match so Stanley took runner-up state honors. Photo by Tom Munds
ThunderRidge’s Matt Stanley knew the odds were stacked against him heading into the 195-pound championship match on Feb. 21 at the state wrestling tournament at the Pepsi Center. Stanley was pitted against unbeaten Jacob Seely from Fruita Monument in the Class 5A title match. Seely finished the season with a 42-0 record with a 16-0 technical fall decision over Stanley, the senior who compiled a 44-3 record. “I wanted to stay strong on my feet and try to work some of my attacks in,” said Stanley. “It was tough. I had nothing to lose going into that match. “I was proud of what I did. I wanted to
get second from the start of the season. I reached that goal.” Mountain Vista sophomore Trenton Schultz was the runner-up at 182 pounds, losing a close 2-1 decision to Konner Schmidt of Rocky Mountain. Schultz, who wound up with a 40-7 record, lost to Schmidt last season in the 160-pound, third-place match. Schultz was wrestling for Regis Jesuit a year ago. “I always think about what I can do better,” said Schultz. “I’ve got to be better on my feet. That is where I have to work. It’s a good way to look at things since I have two more years. “I was fourth last year and coming back to get second, I’m getting better every year. I’m happy with this state tournament.” Chaparral’s Dane Drimmer and Cherry Creek’s Matt Finesilver were two south Metro wrestlers who won championships. Drimmer, who advanced to the finals with three consecutive pins, won the 285-pound title with a 5-4 win over Pine Creek’s Taylor White. Drimmer was third and second the Wrestling continues on Page 24