Holy Family girls basketball upends Broomfield in Colorado

For the past several seasons, two Broomfield-based schools have been bringing home girls basketball championships. Broomfield has won four straight in Class 4A, Holy Family (Broomfield) three straight in 3A.

Many wondered how the teams would fare against one another, a question that was finally answered Saturday night when Holy Family nipped Broomfield 51-46 in perhaps the most vastly attended nonleague game of the season.

"Classification doesn't matter to us, because basketball is basketball," Holy Family coach Ron Rossi said. "We just beat a great program and a great team."

The host Tigers (15-0) won behind 16 points from Stephanie Giltner and 14 from guard Megan Chavez. Tyana Medema scored a game-high 25 for Broomfield. The Eagles (13-3) missed 10 of their 23 foul shots.

"We haven't shot free throws well all year long," Broomfield coach Mike Croell said. "In the other games, it really didn't hurt us. But you get into a nip-and-tuck game like this, you can't miss free throws."

FOSSIL RIDGE ABSORBS FIRST LOSS
Chris Hansen's remarkable recovery from a broken leg and subsequent scoring binge has made Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins) the feel-good story of the 5A boys basketball season. But not even Hansen could rescue the SaberCats from a 17-0 deficit to start Thursday's game at Boulder.

Oh, Hansen and the SaberCats tried, but the senior's 17 points (more than 12 less than his average) left Fossil Ridge just shy in Boulder's 54-51 win.

"That was one that you try not to look forward to, for obvious reasons, but you can't help but look forward to it," said Boulder coach Alan Schulz, whose team ended the weekend atop the Front Range League at 15-2, 10-0.

Fossil Ridge (15-1, 9-1) rebounded Friday with a 73-43 win against Horizon.

COOPER SURGING
Isiah Cooper was fine with being the distributor for Montbello (Denver) for the first 10 games of the season. Despite his gifted scoring ability, the senior topped 20 points only once in that span.

Then something clicked.

Starting with a 34-point performance on Jan. 7 against Campbell County, Wyo., Cooper hasn't scored less than 23 points in the past seven games for the Warriors (13-4), who have started 2-0 in defense of their Denver Prep League title.

Recent highlights include Cooper's 41-point performance Thursday in a 76-60 win against Aurora Central (he added 10 rebounds and five assists) and 26 more Saturday in the Warriors' huge 63-61 league win against George Washington. He has vaulted his scoring average to 21.1.

REGIS JESUIT HOCKEY AVENGES LOSS (AND THEN SOME)
Think the Regis Jesuit (Aurora) hockey team was perturbed by an 8-7 loss to Rampart on Jan. 14? Well, the top-ranked Raiders have gone 6-0 since while pummeling their opponents by a composite 37-7 mark.

The Raiders won three games in four days last week, starting with Wednesday's 7-1 shellacking of Palmer, followed by a 5-1 win against Steamboat Springs on Friday and a 5-1 triumph against Peak to Peak on Saturday.

Luke Slouka and Matt Conrad each tallied three goals in the three wins.

GIRLS 5A JEFFCO CONFUSING
Eventually, a winner will be crowned in the Class 5A Jefferson County League. But trying to forecast which team that will be would be akin to predicting the end of a good suspense novel.

While teams have shown flashes of prominence, their unpredictability has been maddening. Take Standley Lake (Westminster), for instance. The Gators are in second place with an 8-2 league record, but their week was wild. They started off by losing 46-44 at home to Lakewood, which entered 3-12. Then, they concluded the week by upending Dakota Ridge 54-37 – the same Eagles squad the Gators lost to by 18 in December.

"That was one that we had to have, because we do think we can get first in league," said Standley Lake senior Woo Bandel, who said the Lakewood head-scratcher had her team down but determined.

Ralston Valley (Arvada) ended the weekend as the league leader (9-1), with its one loss to Standley Lake. Dakota Ridge (Littleton) fell to 7-3, but with teams playing each other twice this season, ground can be made up in the bizarre league.

"It's been absolutely insane," Dakota Ridge senior Brooke Orcutt said. "It's crazy with everyone beating each other. I think it's a matter of which team shows up each night."

TOP PERFORMERS
* Cade Kloster, Longmont: The senior scored 72 points in a 24-hour span to lead the Trojans to two enormous wins. He scored 38 Friday night when Longmont (13-3) nipped Centaurus 69-67 then added 34 Saturday in the Trojans' 77-62 win against Roosevelt. Kloster, son of Longmont coach Dick Kloster, went 17-for-27 from the field and 20-for-23 from the foul line in the two games.

* Carlton Hurst, Aurora Central: The Trojans haven't had a great season at 6-11, but the sophomore's presence indicates the team's future could be promising. He scored 41 points Saturday as the Trojans picked up a 69-63 road win at Rampart. Hurst drilled 19 of 20 free throws.

* Janae Vander ploeg, Cheyenne Mountain: Known mostly as a volleyball standout for the 4A champs, the junior is excelling on the hardwood as well. After a slow start, the Indians (10-6) have reeled off six straight wins, and Vander Ploeg has posted season averages of 13.2 points and 12.4 rebounds. She has 10 double-digit rebounding efforts, including one of 22 against Canon City.

ON TAP
* Holy Family at Longmont girls, Thursday, 7 p.m.: This figures to be a matchup of the only undefeated teams in the top three classifications. If Longmont wins Tuesday against Mountain View, the 4A Trojans will be 17-0 and hosting the 15-0 Tigers.

* Limon at Stratton boys, Friday, 4 p.m: Another matchup of unbeatens here, as Limon finished the weekend 12-0 and Stratton 13-0. Limon stars Jason Brown and Brandon Schmidt will try to ward off Stratton's two-pronged attack of Jesse McConnell and Trey Thompson in this 1A showdown.

* Regis Jesuit (Aurora) vs. Highlands Ranch doubleheader: On Friday, two-time defending 5A champion Regis Jesuit (13-4) visits another title favorite in Highlands Ranch (16-1). On Saturday, it's the girls' turn at Regis. Both Continental League contests tip off at 7 p.m.

Paul Willis is a regular sports freelancer for The Denver Post and covered high school, college and pro sports for the Rocky Mountain News from 2000-09. You can reach him at gdpdub@aol.com.