Roaring Fork state bound for fifth straight year

Rams will start play in Great Eight in Fort Collins

Staff Report
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
March 9, 2008

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DENVER — For the fifth time in as many years the Roaring Fork boys basketball team is state bound.

The No. 3-seeded Rams defeated No. 2 Sheridan 43-38 on Saturday at Sheridan High School for their fifth straight regional championship and to once again qualify for next week’s Class 3A state tournament in Fort Collins.

“We are ecstatic,” said Roaring Fork head coach Roger Walters. “This is a pretty good accomplishment for this group.”

Roaring Fork got an early lead and held on to it for the rest of the game. It got up by eight points in the first quarter, then stretched the margin to 10 going into the final quarter — a big advantage for such a low-scoring game.

“They were really methodical, they tried to slow the pace down a lot,” Walters said of Sheridan.

With the Rams up by 12 early in the fourth quarter, Sheridan rallied for a comeback by hitting four 3-pointers. Good thing for Roaring Fork, the Rams hit their free throws on the other side of the court and didn’t allow Sheridan to get closer than five.

Roaring Fork (19-5) will now advance to the Great Eight of the 3A Tournament and will play Eaton (22-2) on Thursday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins. The Colorado High School Activities Association will release the game time today.

Three of the four Rams seniors — Torrey Udall, Oscar Alvarado and Alex Hernandez — have now gone to state all four years of their high school careers. Matthias Weissl has not, as he is a transfer and this is his first year on the team.

“They played hard for their upperclassmen, and now the younger guys are doing it for them,” Walters said of the trio.