Regardless of what their incoming records may be each season, both the Boulder and Fairview girls basketball teams recognize any meetings against each other are of the must-win variety.
The crosstown rivalry was renewed once again on Tuesday and after falling in last year’s matchup, the Knights were eager to prove it was merely a fluke. This time around, Fairview scored the game’s first 13 points to kickstart a 51-15 home thrashing of its longtime foe.
“I’m glad the girls got to step up on a grand stage like this,” first-year Fairview head coach Pete Campbell said. “They got redemption — that’s all we talked about all week.”
Fairview (4-13, 2-6 Class 6A Front Range) is now 18-5 against Boulder since 2007.
The magnitude of the matchup certainly wasn’t lost on Knights junior Remy Tolar, who led all scorers with 13 points.
“It was definitely intense,” Tolar said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a crowd this big. It was really exciting and to have the whole student section here, it just felt really supportive.”
The Knights also received 10 points from Bella Chang, nine from Lila Nuttle and eight from Lucy Michaels. While Campbell was encouraged by Fairview’s effort on Tuesday, he noted much more of it will be required moving forward.
“It’s all about evolution,” Campbell said. “We’re not where we need to be right now, but we will get there through time with practice, working on our fundamentals — fundamentals is key — and just being in the gym and saying to themselves, ‘We can build this program, we can make this program matter again.'”
For Boulder (4-13, 1-7 FRL), Adah Ellis-Rissler led with six points and sophomore Megan Matthews chipped in five. Matthews admitted afterward that her Panthers struggled to match Fairview’s vigor from the tip.
“We’ve had ongoing (talks) with everyone being a threat on offense and bringing the energy on defense, and I think we didn’t do either of those things,” Matthews said. “Unfortunately, I think Fairview just wanted it more from the beginning.”
Both teams return to action with away games on Friday: Fairview will be at Broomfield and Boulder is set to challenge Monarch.
