AURORA | A look back at some of the key games, tournaments and happenings in Aurora prep sports from Jan. 13-18, 2020:
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
THE WEEK PAST IN AURORA PREP SPORTS (JAN. 13-18, 2020)
SATURDAY, JAN. 18: Joe Renner became only the second Grandview wrestler to win a championship at the rugged Top of The Rockies Invitational wrestling tournament at Centaurus High School, as he ruled the 182-pound bracket. Renner edged Bradley Whitright of Cheyenne East (Wyo.) 4-3 in the championship match, while he was joined on the medal podium by Frankie Sanchez Jr., who rebounded from a semifinal loss with a win by technical fall in the third-place match at 106 pounds. In other wrestling results, Cherokee Trail placed 14th at the Rockwell Rumble in Utah on the strength of a trio of placers, including two in the 220 pound bracket, where Sam Hart won the championship and Julian Williams placed third. Derek Glenn Jr. added a fifth at 106 pounds for good measure; Cherokee Trail (Ethan Debelak, 132 pounds), Eaglecrest (Dorian Ervin, 106), Overland (Ryan Hensley, 145) and Vista PEAK (Donovan Jarmon, 220) all had champions at the Smoky Hill Invitational, which featured a multi-classification mix of 14 teams. Grandview — which sent the wrestlers not in the Top Of The Rockies — had no champions, but had 12 total placers to take fourth to lead the six city teams in the field, while host Smoky Hill had a runner-up in Marco Canas Munoz (220). Rangeview bested Aurora Central by two points in their second matchup of the week to take seventh place at the Rock Canyon Duals and heavyweight Martin Renteria’s third-place finish at the Alameda Invitational led Hinkley. …Aurora girls basketball teams went 2-for-2 in Colorado with Hinkley (over Lincoln) and Vista PEAK (over Palmer) winning, while Regis Jesuit fell in a close one to Cardinal Newman (Calif.) at the St. Mary’s Showcase. …Randall Satterwhite (14 points) and the duo of Xavion Dotson and Jeremiah Warren (12 apiece) helped the Hinkley boys basketball team top visiting Castle View. The T-Birds avenged a 32-point loss to the SaberCats from the previous season, while Gateway dropped a tight one to Lakewood. …The Regis Jesuit ice hockey team swept the season series from Castle View with a 4-1 victory at Family Sports Center, as Robbie Dembeck had a pair of goals, Nolan Sargent registered two assists and Logan Zlot stopped all but one of the 20 shots he faced for the Raiders.
— The Aurora prep sports scoreboard for Saturday, Jan. 18, here
FRIDAY, JAN 17:
Lian Ramiro and Caleb McGill combined for 41 points — 24 in the second half — as the Grandview boys basketball team got past rival Eaglecrest for a Centennial League home victory. A big dunk and three-point play from McGill and back-to-back 3-pointers by Ramiro were keys in some second half stretches for the Wolves. The foul-plagued Raptors got 11 points apiece from Zion Ruckard and Skylar Wilson and 10 from Ty Robinson. Smoky Hill got a 23-point effort from Quinten Rock and Jalen Weaver contributed 21 as the Buffaloes used an explosive second half to rally past Mullen, while Overland also topped Cherokee Trail in Centennial League action and Rangeview cruised past Arvada West in non-league boys hoops. …William Laws scored a power play goal in the first period for the Regis Jesuit ice hockey team in its showdown with Monarch at Family Sports Center, but the Coyotes evened it up late in the period and scored in each of the next two to win the contest. …Despite 27 points from Jada Moore and 26 from Avery VanSickle, the Regis Jesuit girls basketball team dropped a four-point decision to Miramonte (Calif.) at the St. Mary’s Showcase tournament in California. In Centennial League girls hoops, Cherokee Trail had five players in double figures (led by Makayla Hemingway with 23 points and Mia Collins with 18) to handle Amaya Charles (18 points) and Overland, while Grandview got up big early in a win over Eaglecrest and Smoky Hill was held to single digits in all four quarters in a road loss at Mullen.
— The Aurora prep sports scoreboard for Friday, Jan. 17, here
THURSDAY, JAN. 16:
The Gateway girls basketball team because the last Aurora team to get into the win column with a home victory over Aurora West College Prep behind Kaush Noble’s 18 points and Taniah Knox’s 13. Brianna Linnear scored 15 points, but the Rangeview girls basketball team dropped a key EMAC battle at Thornton in other Aurora girls hoops, which also included a big Vista PEAK win (in which it pitched a shutout in the first half against Adams City) with Kaya Evans going for 17 points and Mikenzie Jones for 16, Hinkley posted a narrow victory and Aurora Central fell. …The Eaglecrest wrestling team topped Cherry Creek by 10 points in a Centennial League dual, aided by pins from Dorian Ervin, Alias Quinones, Caeleb Knoll, John Pohl, Medhavi Peou and Allentino Baroso. Ten of the 11 matches contested between the Regis Jesuit and Highlands Ranch wrestling teams were decided by fall, with the Raiders getting six of them in a Continental League dual win. Aurora Central edged Rangeview by three as part of a tri-dual that also involved Heritage. …A super-fast Continental League dual between the host Regis Jesuit girls swim team and Rock Canyon produced 26 5A state-qualifying standards, including the first of two required for Raiders’ diver Olivia Baptiste, while Alyssa Lutz won twice and Hinkley claimed four events in a close loss to Fort Collins. …On The Mat’s Week 7 wrestling rankings came out, with 24 wrestlers from seven Aurora programs in the Class 5A/4A rankings, plus two teams in the 5A top 10 (No. 5 Cherokee Trail and No. 8 Grandview). Grandview’s Frankie Sanchez Jr. (106 pounds), Regis Jesuit’s Antonio Segura (145 pounds) and Cherokee Trail’s Sam Hart (220 pounds) held No. 1 spots in their respective weights in 5A. (Full Aurora On The Mat Week 7 rankings, here).
— The Aurora prep sports scoreboard for Thursday, Jan. 16, here
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 15:
The Overland boys basketball team, still shorthanded after the loss of big man Graham Ike for the season, earned a big Centennial League win over rolling Smoky Hill. Kaleb Chaney and Vinni Veikalas scored 15 points apiece, Trevon Deden went for 13 and Hezekiah Swanson joined them in double figures with 10 in a balance victory keyed by a 23-point second quarter. Grandview (led by Tanner Holtman with 17 points) held off Phillip Toledo (21) and Cherokee Trail and Ty Robinson paced Eaglecrest with 21 points and Zion Ruckard contributed 19 as the Raptors held off visiting Arapahoe…Lauren Betts scored 28 points for a second straight game as the Grandview girls basketball team finally shook off a challenge from rival Cherokee Trail on its way to victory. Makayla Hemingway countered with 21 for the Cougars. …The Hinkley wrestling team finished 1-1 in a tri-dual with Gateway at Adams City. …PrepSwimCo.com issued the latest set of rankings it had compiled for Class 5A girls swimming and four Aurora programs appeared in the top 20 (No. 6 Regis Jesuit, No. 13 Grandview, No. 16 Smoky Hill and No. 19 Cherokee Trail). Grandview’s Hailey Matthews and Julia Matney and Regis Jesuit’s Sophia Bradac each have top-five individual rankings. (Full PrepSwimCo.com’s Class 5A rankings, here).
— The Aurora prep sports scoreboard for Wednesday, Jan. 15, here
TUESDAY, JAN. 14: Shawn Palmer became the winningest coach in Rangeview boys basketball history with the Raiders’ 60-43 EMAC road win at Hinkley, his 288th career victory. Palmer’s son, Cade, knocked down five 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 15 points (plus threw an inbounds lob for a high-flying dunk to Obi Agbim), while Jovaughn Wright added 11 and Christian Speller had 10. Aurora Central, Gateway, Regis Jesuit and Vista PEAK (which got a 20-point effort from AJ LaCabe) also were victorious in Aurora boys hoops. …Avery VanSickle connected on eight 3-pointers on her way to 30 points as the Regis Jesuit girls basketball team rolled past Heritage in Continental League play. The tandem of Mikayla Jones and Seairra Hughes combined for 30 points to help Vista PEAK prevail in a close one over Lakewood, while Rangeview also won big and Gateway and Aurora Central fell in Aurora girls hoops. …The Overland wrestling team dropped a nine-point Centennial League dual to Mullen, with Bobur Nurullahonov (138 pounds), Ryan Hensley (145) and Versean Steward (182) winning by fall. …The Cherokee Trail girls swim team — off to an outstanding start to the season, see feature story, here — celebrated Senior Night for 14 seniors with a 145-39 Centennial League dual win over Arapahoe, which only sent lower level swimmers as it prepared for a meet against Cherry Creek. Skylar Brgoch gave the team its first Class 5A state meet qualifier in the 500 yard freestyle when she swam a time of 5 minutes, 30.75 seconds. Wins by Alyssa Lutz and Yamileth Campos highlighted a dual meet loss for the Hinkley girls swim team vs. Mullen.
— The Aurora prep sports scoreboard for Tuesday, Jan. 14, here
MONDAY, JAN. 13: On a very light night of action, the Overland girls basketball team picked up its first win of the season with 44-38 home victory over Rock Canyon behind 17 points from sophomore Amaya Charles. …LaQuan Bowie tallied 11 points and Messiah Ford added 10, but the Aurora Central boys basketball team couldn’t overcome a Thomas Jefferson spurt in the third quarter in a 52-45 road loss to the Spartans.
— The Aurora prep sports scoreboard for Monday, Jan. 13, here