Basketball Recap: Thunderridge Takes Down Fruita Monument in a Playoff Battle

ThunderRidge had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They put the hurt on the Fruita Monument Wildcats with a sharp 55-35 victory on Tuesday. The Grizzlies have seen this before: they got the W the last time they saw the Wildcats, too.

Kael Carney

Points (Career)

03/04/25 vs Fruita Monument	23
01/29/25 vs Castle View	22
02/12/25 @ Heritage	20
12/13/24 vs Denver East	20
12/11/24 vs Rocky Mountain	17

Kael Carney had a dynamite game for ThunderRidge, shooting 56% from the field to rack up 23 points. The dominant performance gave Carney a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Ulysses Brown, who went 5-for-9 on his way to 13 points and eight rebounds.

ThunderRidge was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Fruita Monument only seven assists.

Fruita Monument lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Daniel Thomason, who shot 60% from the field en route to 16 points. He is on a roll when it comes to field goal percentage, as he's posted one of at least 47% in the last 31 games he's played dating back to last season. Jhett Wells was another key player, putting up 13 points in addition to six boards and three blocks.

ThunderRidge is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 20-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.6 points over those games. The defeat snapped Fruita Monument's winning streak at 11 games and leaves them with a 20-5 record.

Coming up, ThunderRidge will square off against Eaglecrest at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Eaglecrest will roll in looking for their 17th straight win, something ThunderRidge surely won't give up without a fight. Fruita Monument does not have any more games scheduled as of now.