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Rams, Basalt advance to state

Staff Report

PALISADE – Dan Markoya tallied a game-high 23 points and Nic Lough added 16 as Roaring Fork rolled to a 67-43 victory over Eagle Valley in Saturday’s third-place game at the Class 3A District 2 tournament here Saturday.

Both teams advance to the first round of the state tournament set to start Friday. The other state qualifiers are district champion Cedaredge, which beat fellow qualifier Aspen 46-40 in the title game, and fifth-place Basalt. The seeding and bracket are expected to be released this afternoon.

“I like where we’re headed going into regionals,” Roaring Fork coach Mike Fahrenkrug said. “We’re playing our game, and I like our chances. I’m not worried about playing on the road, it seems like we play better on the road than when we’re at home, because we’re more focused.”



The Rams took an early 20-14 lead in the first half and expanded on the advantage in the second quarter for a 33-21 edge at the halftime intermission.

Eagle Valley never threatened in the second half as the Rams closed out the contest with a 21-12 fourth quarter.



“We didn’t allow the game to slip away today,” said Fahrenkrug, comparing the game to Thursday’s 45-41 loss

District 2: see page 12

to Aspen. “Offensively, we missed shots that we normally would make – that’s what happened to us against Aspen. We’re a good basketball team, but, we’re a young basketball team and we learned that from (Friday).”

Craig Jagger was the only Eagle Valley player to register double digits with 10 points.

Roaring Fork 67, Eagle Valley 43

Eagle Valley 14 7 10 12-43

Roaring Fork 20 13 13 21-67

EAGLE VALLEY – Sean Bartlett 3 0-0 7, Kevin Cruz 2 0-0 5, Jerad Schlegal 1 0-0 2, Manuel Vorela 0 0-0 0, Craig Jagger 4 0-0 10, Dillon Barkman 2 2-4 6, Cody Gerard 1 2-2 4, Clayton Forsyth 1 0-0 2, David Hernandez 1 0-0 2, Eric Smith 0 0-0 0, Justin Wood 2 1-2 5, Peter Berg 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 5-11 43.

ROARING FORK – Jake Boyle 2 2-5 6, Aaron Markham 3 2-2 8, Jose Escarsega 1 0-0 3, Chad Minor 1 0-0 2, Tyler Gillespie 0 0-0 0, Arnold Hernandez 3 2-2 9, Dan Markoya 10 1-2 23, Tommy Joiner 0 0-2 0, Misael Fernandez 0 0-2 0, Christian Tena 0 0-0 0, Jon Lough 0 0-0 0, Nic Lough 6 4-5 16. Totals 26 11-20 67.

3-pointers – Bartlett, Cruz, Jagger 2; Escarsega, A. Hernandez, Markoya 2. Fouled out – Barkman. Technicals – none.

Fifth/sixth-place game

Basalt 63, Gunnison 42

PALISADE – Basalt took the hard route, but got the desired result – a berth at the state tournament.

After dropping its first-round boys Class 3A District 2 game to Roaring Fork, the Longhorns battled back through the elimination bracket to secure the final state berth with a 63-42 victory over Gunnison in the fifth/sixth-place contest here Saturday.

Ryan Thompson tallied 20 points and Kyle Kappeli notched 14 to pace the Basalt attack, but it was solid defense that put the game away.

The Longhorns allowed just five Gunnison points in the second quarter and took a 29-15 advantage into the intermission.

John Soderburg was the high scorer for Gunnison with 13 points.

Basalt 63, Gunnison 42

Gunnison 10 5 9 18-42

Basalt 14 15 11 23-63

GUNNISON – Brian Bollig 0 0-1 0, Bradley Nelson 1 0-0 2, Ryan McKee 1 0-0 2, Chris Somero 0 0-0 0, Tyler Campbell 0 0-0 0, Chris Garcia 0 0-0 0, Josh Moorhouse 1 0-0 2, Nick Spaligue 4 2-6 10, Wes Ochs 4 1-2 9, Tyler McGovern 0 0-0 0, John Soderburg 6 1-2 13, Jessie Soderburg 1 2-4 4. Totals 18 6-15 42.

BASALT – Cody Burkholder 2 4-5 8, Clayton Peetz 0 0-0 0, Danny Popish 3 0-1 6, Cy Eaton 0 1-2 1, Ryan Thompson 9 2-3 20, Hugo Araujo 0 0-0 0, Kyle Kappeli 5 4-6 14, Dillon Johnson 0 0-0 0, Adam Gawrys 1 1-1 3, Travis Schwan 2 0-0 4, Tyler Whitmire 0 0-0 0, Ben Pollock 1 4-5 7. Totals 23 16-23 63.

3-pointers – Pollock. Fouled out – none. Technicals – none.

Friday

Aspen 45, Roaring Fork 41

PALISADE – The Roaring Fork Rams boys basketball team led Aspen by 11 points at halftime and 10 points at the end of the third quarter, but couldn’t hold on down the stretch as the Skiers advanced to the Class 3A District 2 finals with a 45-41 victory Friday.

The Rams held the Aspen offense to six and three points in the first and second quarters, respectively, for a 20-9 advantage at halftime. Roaring Fork maintained a 10-point edge heading into the final frame, but Aspen came alive, outscoring the Rams 25-11 in the stanza.

Phil Salazar led the Skiers with 17 points and Josh Lackey chipped in 16.

Jon Lough was the high scorer for the Rams with 13 points. Dan Markoya tallied 10 points in the losing effort.

Aspen 45, Roaring Fork 41

Aspen 6 3 11 25-45

Roaring Fork 12 8 10 11-41

ASPEN – Josh Lackey 5 1-2 16, Nick Farrell 2 1-3 5, Brett Mufson 1 2-2 4, Phil Salazar 5 7-9 17, Zac Paris 1 0-0 3. Totals 14 11-16 45.

ROARING FORK – Jake Boyle 2 0-0 5, Aaron Markham 2 3-5 8, Arnold Hernandez 2 0-0 5, Dan Markoya 1 7-8 10, Jon Lough 4 4-5 13. Totals 11 14-18 41.

3-pointers – Lackey 5; Boyle, Markham, Hernandez, Markoya Lough. Fouled out – none. Technicals – none.

Basalt 76, Olathe 44

PALISADE – Kyle Kappeli scored 31 points to help Basalt stave off elimination with a 76-44 victory over Olathe in the elimination bracket of the Class 3A District 2 boys basketball tournament here Friday.

The Longhorns outscored Olathe in every quarter and capped the contest with a 23-6 performance in the fourth quarter.

Along with Kappeli, Danny Popish also got into double digits for Basalt with 11 points.

Garrett Peitak paced Olathe with 14 points, while Shane Armendariz and Cody Sweet scored 11 and 10, respectively, in the losing effort.

Basalt 76, Olathe 44

Olathe 9 13 16 6-44

Basalt 14 20 19 23-76

OLATHE – Cole Brown 2 1-1 6, Shane Armendariz 3 4-4 11, Brendon Christie 0 1-2 1, Jon Boyd 0 2-2 2, Cody Sweet 4 2-3 10, Garret Peitak 6 2-3 14. Totals 15 12-15 44.

BASALT – Cody Burkholder 3 1-1 7, Clayton Peetz 1 1-4 3, Ben Pollock 0 0-2 0, Danny Popish 4 2-2 11, Cy Eaton 1 0-0 2, Ryan Thompson 3 0-1 6, Hugo Araujo 1 0-0 2, Kyle Kappeli 13 4-4 31, Adam Gawrys 2 0-0 6, Travis Schwan 3 2-3 8. Totals 31 10-17 76.

3-pointers – Brown, Armendariz; Popish, Kappeli, Gawrys 2. Fouled out – none. Technicals – none.


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