GYPSUM – Roaring Fork girls’ basketball came into Hot Stuff Gymnasium Friday night as the top team in the 3A Western Slope League.

While they left with a 60-54 win over Eagle Valley to stay in first, for a while, it looked as if the Devils might have an upset on their hands.

Eagle Valley jumped out to an early lead, thanks to six straight points from senior Brooke Baughfman, who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds on the night. Her team held the lead until the opening minutes of the third quarter, when the Rams caught fire and ran off 10 consecutive points.

---

---

“We played with them the whole way,” Devils head coach Mike Vidakovich said. “We just told the kids (after the game) that we feel we’re really making strides. We’re a much better team than we were Dec. 13 against Greeley Central.”

Eagle Valley, down by nine at one point in the third quarter, rallied to tie the score at 43 when freshman Amanda Padilla drained a 3-pointer. Roaring Fork tried to pull away again, but four-straight points by junior Trista Sandoval brought them back to within one, 50-49, halfway through the fourth quarter. Then, the Rams turned to junior Tarn Udall, who scored seven points in the last two minutes to finish off the Devils, who dropped to 2-5 in league play. Roaring Fork improves to 5-1.

---

---

“This game makes us see we’re going to be a good team,” Baughfman said. “We can be just as good as the Roaring Forks or the Basalts.”

Padilla finished with 10 points for Eagle Valley, while Sandoval added 12 points and two rebounds. Rams forward Jessie Rochel led the way with 22 points and eight rebounds.

Roaring Fork 60, Eagle Valley 54

Roaring Fork 16 10 17 17-60

Eagle Valley 18 11 11 14-54

ROARING FORK – Tarn Udall 6 3-4 15, Brie Bath 0 0-0 0, Jessi Rochel 10 2-2 22, Carly Velasquez 5 1-3 12, Ashley Jensen 2 6-10 11, Laura Wright 0 0-0 0, Megan Zeigel 0 0-0 0, Aly Romanus 0 0-0 0, Teresa Pulver 0 0-0 0, Whitney Campbell 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-19 60.

EAGLE VALLEY – Laura Sandoval 0 0-0 0, Sarah Brubeck 2 0-0 4, Whitney Donohue 0 0-0 0, Trista Sandoval 5 2-3 12, Alex Amsden 2 0-0 5, Brooke Baughfman 6 0-2 12, Amanda Padilla 4 0-0 10, Kenzie Shreeve 2 1-2 5, Alison Colby 0 0-0 0, Stacie Santuro 1 0-0 2, Diane Mayne 2 0-0 4, Kelli Verderber 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 3-7 54.

3-pointers – Velasquez, Jensen, Amsden, Padilla 2. Total fouls – not available. Fouled out – none.

A dozen treys lift Rams boys

GYPSUM – It didn’t take long for Roaring Fork to show Eagle Valley what it was in for Friday night. The Rams hit four 3-pointers in the first three minutes and hit 12 shots from behind the arc on the night, on their way to a 81-57 3A Western Slope League win.

The win improves Roaring Fork to 5-1 and keeps the Rams in second place, while the Devils fell to 2-5 in the league.

“They were hot,” Devils head coach Phil Cain said. “We still have to work on our defense, on boxing out, and on keeping our hands up. We’re going to keep trying to improve, because we need to.”

Eagle Valley took an early 3-0 lead on free throws, before Roaring Fork began its show from downtown. The Rams went on an 11-0 run behind two 3-pointers by junior Jake Boyle and another trey by sophomore Aaron Markham. Boyle hit five 3-pointers on the night, while senior Arnie Hernandez added four of his own, as the Rams built their lead to 19 points late in the first quarter.

The Devils narrowed the lead to 10 at halftime before Roaring Fork junior Dan Markoya would scored seven straight points to start the second half. Roaring Fork led by as much as 26 in the fourth quarter. The Rams finished 12-for-20 from 3-point range and made 54-percent of its shots overall.

The Devils, meanwhile, made only 3-of-13 from downtown.

Senior Craig Jagger led the Devils in scoring with 15 points, while senior Justin Wood added 10 points and five rebounds.

Boyle led the Rams with 17 points, while Markham and Hernandez notched 15 and 13, respectively.

Roaring Fork 81, Eagle Valley 57

Roaring Fork 27 13 24 17-81

Eagle Valley 13 17 10 17-57

ROARING FORK – Jake Boyle 6 0-0 17, Aaron Markham 4 6-6 15, Jose Escarsega 1 0-0 3, Chad Minor 1 2-2 4, Adam Joiner 0 1-2 1, Arnold Hernandez 4 1-2 13, Tyler Gillispie 0 0-0 0, Dan Markoya 3 0-0 7, Tommy Joiner 0 0-0 0, Misael Fernandez 2 1-3 5, Jon Lough 1 2-2 4, Nic Lough 5 2-3 12. Totals 27 15-20 81.

EAGLE VALLEY – Sean Bartlett 1 0-0 3, Kevin Cruz 0 0-0 0, Jerad Schlegal 2 0-1 4, Manuel Varela 2 0-0 6, Craig Jagger 4 7-10 15, Dillon Barkman 2 2-2 6, Cody Jerard 3 3-4 9, Clayton Forsyth 1 2-2 4, David Hernandez 0 0-0 0, Justin Wood 2 6-9 10, Peter Berg 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 20-28 57.

3-pointers – Boyle 5, Markham, Escarsega, A. Hernandez 4, Markoya, Bartlett, Varela 2. Total fouls – not available. Fouled out – none.