LAKEWOOD — Heading into a midseason Jeffco League battle, No. 7 Lakewood was the clear favorite over visiting Ralston Valley. The Tigers have been a Top Ten team all winter long, while the Mustangs are still very much trying to find an identity.
But in conference games—and especially rivalry conference games—anything can happen, and Ralston Valley proved that on Friday night, as the Mustangs rode consistent defense and senior Jarrod Parker’s clutch three-point play with 4.68 seconds left to a 62-59 upset victory over Lakewood.
“We’re always ready for a challenge,” Parker said. “This team is built up of a ton of competitors, and I knew that even if we were to lose this game, we would leave everything out there.”
The longtime district foes played each other tight in the first quarter, with the Mustangs capitalizing on a slow tempo and quality possessions. The second quarter was much of the same, and Ralston Valley took a five-point lead into halftime as the Mustangs looked hungry to break a two-game losing slide to the Tigers.
Lakewood wouldn’t go away quietly, though, and made several runs throughout the second half. The Tigers, buoyed by senior Kolton Peterson’s hot hand in the fourth quarter, tied the game on multiple occasions, only to have Ralston Valley march down the floor and hit a big shot to match.
On the final possession of the game, the Mustangs scrapped for a number of rebounds before Parker finally pulled down the ball off fellow senior Trey Sayers’ miss and found the bucket on an and-one lay-up to seal the game.
“The play is even a little foggy to me right now, but I can tell you that Trey Sayers is one of the hardest workers out here,” Parker said of the final sequence. “He got a couple key rebounds down the stretch, and he saved us two nights ago in a win against Arvada West. He played big tonight.”
Parker led Ralston Valley with 18 points, with additional contributions coming from senior Trey Conrad (16 points) and senior Trey Sayers (13 points). Lakewood was paced by 16 points each from Peterson and senior Jacob Storey, while senior Dallas Bailey also chipped in a dozen points.
Lakewood (12-4) is in action next at home against Chatfield on Feb. 1, while Ralston Valley (9-8) hosts Bear Creek that same night at 7 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER:
Ralston Valley 16 16 17 13
Lakewood 14 13 14 18
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