AURORA | A look back at some of the key games, tournaments and happenings in Aurora prep sports from Jan. 17-23, 2023:
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
THE WEEK PAST IN AURORA PREP SPORTS, 1.17-1.23.23
MONDAY, JAN. 23: The Smoky Hill boys basketball team pushed its winning streak to six games with a 71-63 non-league home victory over Chaparral. …The Cherokee Trail boys basketball team got back on the winning track with a 72-61 road win at Golden. …The Gateway girls basketball team downed Thornton 32-28 …The Grandview boys basketball team saw visiting Columbine escape with a 54-49 victory despite 14 from Gavin Placide and nine from Alex Riddick.
SATURDAY, JAN. 21: The Rangeview girls swim team topped the standings at the 33rd annual Aurora Public Schools Championship meet for the 19th straight time, as the Raiders won 11 of 12 events in their home pool (event story, here). Savannah Snow and Kayla Allen won two events apiece, while Kateland Rodriguez, Hailey McDonald, Shemiah Turner, Bella Gonzalez and Fernanda Recio also took events for Rangeview. Aurora Central’s team of Persais De Haro, Audrey Sandoval, Bernice Guerrero and Lizzett Mireles ended up as the 200 yard medley relay champs for the Trojans, who finished four points behind Gateway in the chase for third place and Hinkley finished second (full meet results, here). …All four of Aurora’s girls wrestling programs completed at the Tiara Challenge at Douglas County H.S. and finished with a combined 21 top-six places. Eaglecrest had 10 of those — topped by runners-up Chasey Karabell (100 pounds) and Blythe Cayko (who lost her first match of the season at 190 pounds) — on its way to second place, while third-place Vista PEAK had second place finishers at 125 pounds (Reagan Perez) and 155 (Leilani Caamal). Seventh-place Overland had the lone champion in Vianca Mendoza at 120 pounds. … The Regis Jesuit girls swim team fell to Cherry Creek 187.5-127.5 in a dual meet of 5A state championship contenders. Samantha Aguirre, Taylor Johannsen and diver Kathryn Jewell earned first places for the Raiders. …The Grandview boys wrestling team finished in 12th place at the rugged Top of the Rockies tournament hosted by Centaurus H.S. Gunner Lopez earned the Wolves’ only podium spot when he took fourth at 132 pounds. …The Eaglecrest boys wrestling team swept Northfield (72-12), Heritage (66-13) and Smoky Hill (66-18) to win its pool of the SaberCat Slam dual tournament. The Buffaloes finished 1-2, as did Overland. …Ezekiel Taylor won the 190-pound championship and Oscar Valdez took second at 215 as the Vista PEAK boys wrestling team finished in seventh at the DPI at Berthoud tournament. …Playing the second game of a back-to-back, the Grandview boys basketball team downed Doherty 69-64 as five Wolves scored in double figures (Gallagher Placide had 16, UK Onyenwere 14, Gavin Placide 12, Colin Bilotta 11 and Simon Kibbee 11). …Twelve players scored at least a point for the Vista PEAK boys basketball team and only one had double figures (Nasir Mills with 10 points) in the Bison’s 69-17 win over Kennedy. The Vista PEAK girls also won over Kennedy by a count of 87-4. …Mareon Chapman poured in 23 points and Kenny Black-Knox went for 18 as the Rangeview boys basketball team topped Hinkley 85-29. The Raiders also topped the Thunder 76-25 in the girls matchup. …William O’Grady’s third-period goal stood up as the difference as the Cherry Creek co-op ice hockey team topped Fort Collins 4-3. Dominic Suchkov scored twice, Kae Gruenther (Cherokee Trail) had two assists and Mason Banks stopped 25 shots in the nets. …Nicolas Pineiro scored the lone goal for the Regis Jesuit ice hockey team in a 3-1 road loss at Monarch in a high-powered matchup on ice.
FRIDAY, JAN. 20: The Regis Jesuit boys basketball team fell to Class 6A No. 1 Rock Canyon 59-57 on a buzzer-beating shot for the visiting Jaguars. TaRea Fulcher scored 20 points for the Raiders and Cole Records added 12. …Rickey Mitchell scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and 33 in the game as the Smoky Hill boys basketball team rallied past Cherokee Trail for a 71-66 victory. Tony Niyangabo tallied 18 points, Keean Lloyd had 17 and Alonzo Rodgers 12 for the Cougars. …Sienna Betts’ contested bank shot with just over five seconds left in regulation broke a tie and held up to give the Grandview girls basketball team a 32-30 Centennial League win over Arapahoe. Betts finished with 18 points to pace the Wolves. …Joshua Ray tallied 15 points, DeAndre Brown 12 and Garrett Barger 10 as the Eaglecrest boys basketball team held off Overland 59-53. Siraaj Ali scored a game-high 20 points for the ‘Blazers, who had a two-point lead going into the final quarter. …Amaia Jones and Anjolene Ramiro scored 12 points apiece and Nia McKenzie added 10 as the Eaglecrest girls basketball team defeated Overland 62-14 on the Raptors’ Senior Night. …Ian Beck and Carter Schick scored two goals apiece and Michael Manville tallied four assists as the Regis Jesuit ice hockey team skated past Castle View 7-0 at Family Sports Center. Schick’s first goal came in the opening period and resulted in a slew of stuffed animals raining down on the ice as the Raiders conducted their annual Teddy Bear Toss event. The stuffed toys were collected and will be sent to children at Children’s Hospital Colorado at a later date. … Julian Moreno (120 pounds), Fernando Calderon (175) and Asmir Huskic (285) earned wins by fall for the Gateway boys wrestling team in a 51-18 dual match home loss for the Olys. …The Cherry Creek co-op ice hockey team returned to Colorado play after a hiatus with a 7-0 road loss at Ralston Valley.
THURSDAY, JAN. 19: Alejandro Flores’ basket in the closing seconds broke a tie and held up to give the Aurora Central boys basketball team a 53-51 Colorado League win over visiting Thornton. Bishop Danyki (12 points) plus Nico Portillo and Simeon Veasley (10 apiece) got into double figures for Aurora Central. …The Gateway boys basketball team fell to Skyview 49-47 in Colorado League play. …Hana Belibi tallied 23 points, Coryn Watts 15 and Iliana Green 12 as the Regis Jesuit girls basketball team earned a 64-39 road win at Rock Canyon. …The Smoky Hill boys wrestling team split a pair of Centennial League duals as it defeated Overland 52-27 and then lost to Cherokee Trail 58-14. Jose Maes won both of his 175-pound matches by fall and Jacob Castellano went 2-0 at 132 pounds for the Buffs. In other Centennial League action, Grandview and Eaglecrest remained undefeated with 60-22 and 54-21 wins over Cherry Creek and Arapahoe, respectively. …The Eaglecrest girls wrestling team topped Arapahoe 60-18 in a dual match in which the Raptors won four of the seven contested matches, Chasey Karabell, Amy Pham, Natalie Replogle and Gianna Falise won by fall. …In girls swimming, Cherokee Trail defeated Overland 153-10 and Grandview topped Eaglecrest 138-46 as both the Cougars and Wolves honored their seniors at their final home dual meets.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18: All athletics and activities were canceled with the closure of Aurora Public Schools, Cherry Creek Schools and Regis Jesuit High School due to weather.
TUESDAY, JAN. 17: The Vista PEAK boys basketball team rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit for a 56-51 win over visiting Denver South in a non-conference matchup of City League teams. Gabe Britton scored a season-high 15 points for the Bison, who also got 13 apiece from Nasir Mills and Alante Monroe-Elazier. …Four Regis Jesuit boys basketball players tallied double figures in a 75-64 Continental League home win over Ponderosa. TaRea Fulcher set the pace for the Raiders with 22 points, while Nick Frontz and Damarius Taylor added 15 apiece and Ridley Soro chipped in 10. …The Regis Jesuit girls basketball team rolled past Ponderosa 80-15 in Continental League play as seven players scored eight or more points. Coryn Watts led the Raiders with 17 points, Hana Belibi had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds and Iliana Greene scored 12. Jane Rumpf was credited with 16 rebounds go to with eight points. …Eianna Jackson’s 15 points helped the Vista PEAK girls basketball team stay in range of Denver South before it dropped a 57-45 decision in a non-conference contest between City League foes. …The Hinkley boys basketball team saw a two-game winning streak come to an end with a 58-31 home loss to Denver West, while the Thunder girls also went down to defeat to the Cowboys 62-57 on the road. …The Grandview girls swim team won 10 of 12 events from visiting Smoky Hill in a 125-46 Centennial League dual victory. Kya Guikema, Amelia Brown, Megan Doubrava, Keira Vail, Caroline Payne, Paige Dailey and diver Addison Campbell also earned wins for the Wolves, who also swept relays. Freshmen Mya Noffsinger and Cameryn Walkup won an event apiece for the Buffaloes.