It’s somewhat of an off week for 2A girls’ basketball as very few league leaders square off head-to-head. The only instances are found in the Lower Platte and San Juan conferences so that’s where our weekly report begins.
Sedgwick County, Merino, Holyoke and Wray are the early unbeatens in the Lower Platte and there are two games on the slate involving those four this week. Holyoke is involved in both as they meet Sedgwick County on Friday and Wray on Saturday. Both are games are rematches won by the Dragons as they downed Sedgwick County 63-36 and Wray 49-31 in non-league action before Christmas.
The Dragons though are coming off their first loss of the season as they fell to Limon (35-31) last Saturday. Lauren Herman and Kristin Vieselmeyer both scored eight points in the loss. Herman added nine rebounds but Vieselmeyer battled foul trouble.
Vieselmeyer was important to the Dragons in both wins over Sedgwick County and Wray. She went for 24 points and 13 rebounds against Sedgwick County and added 13 and 11 against the Eagles. For the season, she leads the Dragons in both categories with 14.2 points and 10.4 rebounds.
Tabby Jones, with 15 points, led Wray in the first matchup with Holyoke but the rest of the team combined for just 16. The Eagls were just 2-10 from the three point line with Jones connecting on both.
In the rematch, the Eagles have momentum from a big victory over Yuma (44-37) last Friday. Karly Godsey dropped in 12 and Larissa Salmans added 11 as the Eagles opened Lower Platte league action with an important win.
Sedgwick County continues to get better as they moved to 6-3 with a win over Peetz this week. In the first game with Holyoke, they received 11 points from Kierra Ehnes and 10 from Whitney Walter. They shot just 32 percent from the field compared to 53 for Holyoke. They were also outrebounded 37-21.
The Cougars have league wins over Haxtun (53-39) and Wiggins (50-34). Alison Woodhams was the top scorer in both; netting 18 against Haxtun and 22 vs Wiggins. Ehnes added 17 against the Tigers.
Ignacio, Telluride and Ridgway are all unbeaten in league play. Ignacio is below five hundred overall (4-5) but they remain favored to win the title. The Bobcats meet both the Miners and Demons this weekend so they can take control of the league race as they’ve also beaten Dove Creek.
The Bobcats weren’t pushed in blowing past Dolores 55-6 last week. Jayden Brunson had 12 points and Avalenna Nanateo 10 in the blowout. Overall, they have eight players averaging three and eight points a game.
Telluride (5-5) and Ridgway (3-3) have comparable records but their resumes do not match up with Ignacio. Telluride has also beaten Dolores, but their margin of victory was just four. Their other league wins are against Nucal and Ouray. Marguex Lovely (9.5) and Kyra Levan (8.0) are the top two scorers.
Ridgway has beaten Nucla and Ouray by a combined 15 points in league play but the Demons have not fared well against top flight competition. They scored just 10 points apiece in losses to Hotchkiss and Paonia and then tallied just 11 in a loss to 1A DeBeque.
Meeker (4-0), Hotchkiss (4-0) and Plateau Valley (2-0) head to the weekend sharing the Western Slope lead. DeBeque and Soroco each have one league loss and sit tied for fourth. The Dragons beat Soroco last week so they currently have the edge in that race.
The best contest pits Meeker on the road to DeBeque on Friday. Experience lays with the Cowboys as they’re senior laden while the Dragons feature a lineup dominated by freshman and sophomore. Both clubs have a recent win over North Park with Meeker edging the Wildcats by four (67-63) and DeBeque by 13 (53-40).
Julia Dinwiddie continues her solid play for Meeker. She totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds in the win over North Park. The senior then added 14 points and 14 ‘boards in a 67-50 win over Vail Christian last week. Sophomore Sarah Kracht added 12 points against North Park and then 17 including three treys against Vail Christian.
One concern for the Cowboys down the road could be free throw shooting. They’re hitting just 50 percent of their attempts (71-143) for the season. Improvement is needed there or the Cowboys could end up on the short end of a key conference or post-season game.
Kendall Conway has been the top player for DeBeque of late. She scored 23 points in the crucial conference win over Soroco last Friday and matched that number the next night in the North Park victory.
With the loss by Holyoke, Rocky Ford moved into the top spot of the statewide rankings this week. The Meloneers continue to share the Santa Fe conference lead with Rye and the two have at least a two game edge on all other teams in the standings. Holly, Hoehne, Swink and Fowler are tied for third with two losses apiece.
The Meloneers goes to Swink on Friday and they’re looking to sweep the season series. Rocky Ford won the first game (43-30) in the season opener for both clubs. Abi Snyder had 16 points in the win and Lily Hancock added 10.
Consistency has been a strong point for Rocky Ford this year as they’ve scored between 40 and 56 points in all but two games. Both exceptions were last week as they beat Las Animas 61-17 and then held off Fowler 39-31. Snyder scored 21 against Fowler but no one else had more than six.
Hoehne and Holly pair up to help determine the race for third place. The Farmers fell back into the pack with their 38-15 loss to Rye last week. Averie Navarette (12.7) is the leading scorer and second leading rebounder (5.3). Nevaeh Martinez tops the rebounding list with 5.4.
Holly lost to Rye 64-29 on January 10th but has won three of their last four including a tight 39-37 win over Crowley County. Most of the scoring comes from Sadee Davis (15.9) and Sierra Howland (5.9) and they also combine for 16 rebounds.
Rye should roll against Swallows Charter and Las Animas this Thursday and Saturday. They won’t play Rocky Ford until the final week but they’ve been dominant against the third place teams beating Swink by 37, Holly by 35, Fowler by 28 and Hoehne by 23.
Limon is back up to number two in the rankings this week. They lead the Union Pacific chase by one game over Genoa Hugo, Byers and Stratton/Liberty and should stay there. Their lone conference game is a Deer Trail club coming off a 46-9 loss to Elbert. The Badgers hit 15 of 24 foul shots in their win over Holyoke including a perfect 8-8 from Toni Lopez. She finished with a game high 12 points.
No change is expected atop the Mile High standings this week. Union Colony Prep, Heritage Christian (all 3-0) and Denver Christian (4-0) share the lead and none of the four square off. Gilpin County started the week just one back but their loss to Longmont Christian (42-21) on Tuesday dropped them two games back. The Tigers challenge Union Colony on Friday.
It’s basically the same scenario in the Black Forest as Simla (4-0) and Colorado Springs School (2-0) are in first place. They don’t meet until February 21st. CSS picked up an important win over Peyton last week behind 15 points and 13 rebounds from Whitni Richardi. The Kodiaks meet Dolores Huerta on Frdiay while Simla meets Fountain Valley on Thursday for their only league contest of the week. The Cubs have a big test next week with Limon.
Not much league activity has taken place in the Southern Peaks with Sanford and Del Norte still expected to battle for the title. Their first meeting is at Sanford on February 1st. Del Norte beat Center (57-36) for their first league win last week and Sanford took out South Park (60-6).
Both teams face Sargent this week. Del Norte is first up on Friday with Sanford to follow on Saturday. The Indians also meet Center on Friday and the Tigers head to Custer County on Saturday.
