Grand Valley girls basketball wins regional, moves on to 3A Great 8 in Denver later this week
Roaring Fork, Grand Valley boys bow out
Ray K. Erku/Post Independent
The Grand Valley High School girls basketball team overcame the disappointment of losing last week’s District Tournament title game to sweep the regional round of the 3A state playoffs on the road Friday and Saturday, including a 52-46 upset win over host Yuma, to advance to the Great 8.
Entering the 32-team state tournament field as the No. 13 seed, the Lady Cardinals easily handled No. 20 Bennett on Friday, 75-32. Junior Jaycee Pittman tallied 31 points, and senior AbbyRose Parker had 24, including 17 second-quarter points as Grand Valley built an insurmountable 38-17 halftime lead.
Playing for the right to advance to the state quarterfinals, Grand Valley survived a slow start and a 2-point deficit, 24-22, at halftime to outscore Yuma 30-22 in the second half and claim the win. Parker was the leading scorer in the contest with 25 points, including four 3-pointers, and went 11-of-13 from the free throw line. Pittman had 13 points and fellow junior Kaylee Medina scored 11.
Grand Valley (18-6), winner of the 3A Western Slope League regular season and runner-up in the District Tournament to North Fork, now faces No. 5 The Vanguard School (19-5) in the quarterfinals at 4 p.m. Thursday at Hamilton Gymnasium on the campus of the University of Denver. The Cardinals will be looking to improve on their fourth-place state finish last year.
Thursday’s winner advances to play in Friday’s semifinals against the winner of the No. 9 Ellicott vs. No. 16 Buena Vista quarterfinal. Ellicott beat No. 8 North Fork on Saturday, 45-40, to advance.
Friday winners play for the championship at 4 p.m. Saturday, and the others will play for the third-place trophy at noon.
Roaring Fork boys fall to No. 1 Faith Christian at regionals
Playing in the boys 3A basketball regionals, the 17th-seeded Roaring Fork High School Rams of Carbondale had the tall task of playing the No. 1 seed Faith Christian on Saturday for the right to advance.
After downing No. 16 Woodland Park 53-48 on Friday, Faith proved to be too much to handle, as the Eagles went on to claim the 70-37 win and move on to the 3A quarterfinals. Regional games stats were not posted to Maxpreps.
Roaring Fork finished the season at 17-7, having placed second in the 3A Western Slope League and at the District tournament to Cedaredge. The fifth-seeded Bruins fell in the first round of the state tournament, 71-59, to No. 28 Strasburg.
It was the final game in a Rams jersey for seniors River Byrne, Eddie Hernandez, Gabe Serson, Diego Loya, Eliot Carballeira and Ryan Metheny.
The Grand Valley boys also ended their season at the hands of Faith Christian, 81-32 on Friday. The Cardinals had entered the tournament as the 32nd seed, concluding the season at 9-14. It was the final game for Cardinals seniors Steven Hicks, Kaden Amis, Kade Sackett, Alex Alegria and Brandon Garcia.
Post Independent interim Managing Editor and senior reporter John Stroud can be reached at jstroud@postindependent.com or at 970-384-9160.
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