We’re fully back into the swing of things in 4A, with a week and a half of games done as we near the midpoint of January. Going forward, we’ll preview the Top 3 matchups of the week, and have some stats and storylines to follow for the rest of the Top 10 games.
Perhaps the biggest game of the week is already in the books as Berthoud stayed perfect with a hard fought 67-58 win over Erie. The teams were a combined 20-1 on the season but the Spartans win kept them unbeaten (12-0) while Erie dropped their second game of the season (9-2). The victory also kept Berthoud in a first place tie with Holy Family and Windsor atop the rugged Tri Valley standings. Erie is now 2-2 in league play and shares fourth place with Mead and Skyline.
Breanna Fowler netted a game high 24 points for Berthoud with Ally Padilla (15) and McKayla Milan (11) also reaching double figures. Padilla was a factor from the outside with a trio of three-pointers. Emily Cavey paced the team on the inside with 10 rebounds.
The Spartans though can’t celebrate the win too long as they face another big battle with Holy Family coming up on Friday. As mentioned, neither team has lost in league play so the winner remains atop the standings going into next week.
For comparison purposes, Holy Family also has a win over Erie and it also came by nine points as they beat the Tigers 53-44 last week. Alyssa Wells poured in 26 points and Tyler Whitlock 14 for Holy Family in that win. Wells scored 12 of her points from the arc by hitting four of nine three-point attempts and the other 14 came from the foul line. Whitlock added nine rebounds and Cecilla Aanerud pulled down seven.
Windsor beat Roosevelt 74-60 on Monday to stay perfect in the Tri Valley and will host Erie on Thursday. Next week is very important for the Wizards as they face both Holy Family and Berthoud over a three day stretch.
The third top game of the week can be found in Colorado Springs, where 9-1 Sand Creek travels to 6-3 Air Academy. They’re ranked fifth and sixth in the state this week. Sand Creek’s lone loss came to 5A Cherokee Trail and they also have good wins over Denver South and Sierra. The Scorpions can match points with almost any team in the state as they’ve scored at least 62 points in every game. Junior Nikki Derrell leads a large group of offensive standouts with 16.1 points per game. Three others; TiAna Davis, Krystina Hagood and Kianna Lemons average double figures. Shamira Wallace and Tameka Williams both put up over eight points a game. The Scorpions pull down 36 rebounds per game; 20 of which comes from the trio of Hagood, Wallace and Limons. Another key for Sand Creek’s success is free throw shooting which stands at 73 percent.
Air Academy got off to a solid start with their only losses coming to top 10 opponents Pueblo West and Holy Family but were upset by Falcon on Monday night. Sophomore Billie Fiore and Junior Hannah Burg each scored 15 for the Falcons in the key conference win.
CU commit Kylee Blacksten leads Air Academy with 15.3 points per game while Annie Louthan and Brianna Sealy both contribute eight per game. Sealy and Blacksten combine for nearly half of Air Academy’s rebounding totals with Louthan adding almost five steals per game.
The all-time series has been streaky. In the MaxPreps era, Air Academy won the first 14 matchups then Sand Creek won nine of the next ten. The Kadets though have taken six straight over the past three years.
The Rest:
Evergreen – Littleton (Wednesday)
Stat to Know: Freshman Jameson Mott leads Evergreen with 15.4 PPG, and senior Susie Puchino leads Littleton with 9.1 a night.
Erie – Windsor (Thursday)
Stat to Know: Erie has not beaten Windsor since 2011, when they swept the Wizards, and are 1-9 all time in Windsor.
Montrose – Durango (Friday)
Stat to Know: Montrose and Durango is a low-scoring rivalry, as neither team has eclipsed 50 points in their 14 games played since 2013.
Loveland – Thompson Valley (Sat)
Stat to Know: Loveland has controlled the off-again, on-again, rivalry match dubbed the Sweetheart Clash, with a 7-3 all time record.
