ARVADA — The crowd kept on getting bigger and bigger as the girls basketball rivalry game between Ralston Valley and Arvada West went on Saturday night at Arvada West High School.
The first game of the varsity girls/boys doubleheader brought a near capacity crowd by the time Ralston Valley and A-West reached halftime.
“It is always nerve-racking because we normally don’t get a big crowd,” Ralston Valley senior Mia Alfaro said of playing in front of the packed gym.
Ralston Valley (11-6 record, 4-2 in Class 6A Jeffco League) didn’t crack under the pressure. In fact, the Mustangs thrived taking a 62-47 road victory.
“This is defintely one of the most complete games we’ve ever played,” Ralston Valley coach Amy Bahl said after the league win that put the Mustangs alone in third place in 6A Jeffco behind Valor Christian and Columbine. “I thought they played hard defensively. We moved the basketball and certain girls stepped up to shoot. Mia (Alfaro) handled the ball well. Everyone rebounded tonight. Everyone fought and showed some grit tonight.”
Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools
Ralston Valley led almost all the way, building its lead up into the 20s by the third quarter. Junior Santana Sabus showed off her normal brilliance pouring in a game-high 30 points, but her supporting cast is what sealed the 5th straight victory for Ralston Valley.
“I feel like everyone contributed so much,” Alfaro said of the win. “We all played together tonight.”
Alfaro had 10 points on the night, while junior Evi Morwood had 7 points. Junior Khloee Akens came off the bench for a pair of 3-pointers to help the cause for Ralston Valley.
“There are a little more nerves going on during a rivalry game,” Bahl said of the first of two match-ups against rival A-West. “We’ve been in these games before, so I think that helped us to have some experience a little bit. They really rose to the occasion tonight. I’m really proud of that.”
Junior Macie Ferguson led A-West with 11 points on the night. Ferguson had 9 points at halftime, but could only muster up a pair of free throws in the second half.
“Defense wins games,” Alfaro said. “We just tried to stop their best players. We knew we had to do that to have a chance.”
Freshman Brooklyn Meurer (10 points) and senior Aubri Cespedes (9 points) both had strong second halves, but it wasn’t enough for A-West.
“Our girls executed our defensive plan really well,” Bahl said of holding the Wildcats to a season-low 47 points. “I thought the defense really stepped up tonight. I think we forced them to take tough shots.”
Ralston Valley starts the second go-around in conference play at home against Bear Creek on Tuesday, Feb. 3. The Mustangs have a tough stretch of Valor, Columbine and A-West to close out the regular season.
A-West (13-3, 3-3) is at Columbine next Tuesday before hosting Valor on Thursday.
Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools
