AURORA | A look back at some of the key games, tournaments and happenings in Aurora prep sports from Jan. 9-15, 2024:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
THE WEEK PAST IN AURORA PREP SPORTS, JAN. 9-15, 2024
MONDAY, JAN. 15: Schools were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the only scheduled contest (a game against Monarch for the Regis Jesuit ice hockey team) got postponed due to weather, which also canceled nearly the entire slate of competition for Jan. 16 (see story, here).
SATURDAY, JAN. 13: The Smoky Hill boys basketball team traveled for matchup with Pueblo South and came away with a 73-57 victory to stretch its win streak to four games. …Damarius Taylor poured in 24 points, Eric Fiedler added 15 and Lucas Dickinson 14 for the Regis Jesuit boys basketball team in its 69-56 non-league road win at Arapahoe. …The Overland boys basketball team dropped a 51-46 home contest to George Washington despite double-digit scoring efforts from Isreal Littleton (12 points), Dontae Graham (11) and Siraaj Ali (10). …Braylen Thomas knocked down five 3-pointers on his way to 24 points for the Cherokee Trail boys basketball team, which dropped a 74-67 road game in Wyoming at Cheyenne Central. Naode Ghide joined Thomas in double figures with 13 points. …The Regis Jesuit boys wrestling team visited the 5 Counties Invitational in California and finished 17th out of 82 scoring teams from multiple states. Garrett Reece won the championship of the 150-pound bracket. …A split portion of the Cherokee Trail boys wrestling team took part in the Rockwell Rumble in Utah and accrued 87 points to finish 18th out of 66 teams from multiple states. Cooper Mathews (106 pounds) and Chance Mathews (138) earned fifth place in their respectively weight classes. …The Grandview boys wrestling team finished as the runner-up behind Pomona at the strong Arvada West Invitational behind 10 top-six placers. Charlie Herting was the lone finalist as he took second at 165 pounds, while Jonathan Montes Gonzales (150), Dylan McMahon (175) and Oz Nowick (215) placed third, Braxton Widrikis (126) and David McCurdy (144) each took fourth, while JR Ortega (113), Graeson Streit (120) and Leland Day (285) finished fifth and Kyle Menuez (106) sixth. …A split portion of the Grandview boys wrestling team finished in fourth place at the Alameda Invitational, which also saw Hinkley place 15th among 21 scoring teams. The Wolves were led by a trio of runners-up in Forrester Warnovk (106 pounds), Pearce Christensen (113) and Mohammad Shekarchian (215), while the Thunder had a pair of fourth-place finishers in Rico Salazar (106) and Marco Duncan (120). …The Rangeview boys wrestling team finished ninth and a split Cherokee Trail team took 11th at the Jaguar Invitational, which had 15 scoring teams. Caleb Maez (138 pounds) and Christian King (285) were runners-up to lead five top-six placers for the Raiders, while Lev Bakhrakh’s third place at 175 pounds paced the Cougars. …The Eaglecrest girls wrestling team finished as the runner-up behind Pomona at the Vista Ridge Alpha Tournament, which saw 36 teams earn points. Between the Gold and Silver divisions, the Raptors had 14 placers (eight Gold, six Silver). Gianna Falise (170 pounds) was the lone Gold Division finalist and finished as the runner-up, while Precious Asoluka (120) and Audrey Gimany (155) won championships in the Silver Division. Smoky Hill placed 26th as a team behind third-place finishes from Maddie Patterson (145 Gold) and Stephanie Ngoc (120 Silver), while Marley Allen won the 110 Silver title for 29th-place Vista PEAK Prep. …The Cherokee Trail girls swim team finished in second place among 14 scoring teams at the Smoky Hill Invitational, while host Smoky Hill placed fifth and Eaglecrest eighth. The Cougars had no event champions, but had runners-up in the 100 yard freestyle (Sarah Woren) and 500 freestyle (Aria Clouse) along with the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays to put them behind only Heritage in the standings. Cameryn Walkup won the championships of the 200 and 500 freestyles for Smoky Hill, which also got second-place finishes from Mya Noffsinger (200 indiv. medley) and Eve Niemann (100 breaststroke), while Eaglecrest won the B final of the 200 medley relay and had its best individual finish from Mila Huseby, who was ninth in the 100 butterfly (full results, here).
FRIDAY, JAN. 12: In a front of a massive crowd, the Vista PEAK Prep boys basketball team defeated rival Rangeview 47-40 in a low scoring contest. Alante Monroe-Elazier was the lone Bison player in double figures with 14 points, while James Brown III added nine, while Mareon Chapman paced the Raiders with 10 and Kenny Black-Knox had nine. Vista PEAK Prep used an 11-0 run to end the second quarter to take a lead it held the rest of the way. …The Hinkley boys basketball team continued its recent momentum with a 79-55 City League victory over Kennedy. …The Regis Jesuit boys basketball team dropped its Continental League opener with a 61-53 road loss at Chaparral despite a trio of double-digit scorers in Eric Fiedler (18 points), Damarius Taylor (14) and Alec Roumph (13). …Camron Crisp’s 16-point effort, plus eight from Alejandro Flores weren’t enough for the Aurora Central boys basketball team in an 82-42 loss to George Washington. …The Vista PEAK Prep girls basketball team outscored rival Rangeview 19-2 in the fourth quarter to rally to a 44-30 victory. The Bison got 11 points from Mackenzie Griffin and eight apiece from Eianna Jackson and Amaya Nance, while the Raiders were paced by Maddie Kilmer with 11. …The Overland girls basketball team earned its fourth straight win and 11th victory of the season with an 84-25 defeat of Thornton. …Alayna McClain’s eight points led the Aurora Central girls basketball team in a 60-15 loss to George Washington. …Edison Barnes, Ian Beck, Vincent Cieslak, Jonathan Crowell, Avery Osgood and Reece Peterson scored a goal apiece, Parker Brinner had three assists and Marc Broussard saved 11 shot as the Regis Jesuit ice hockey team blanked Cheyenne Mountain 6-0.
THURSDAY, JAN. 11: Alejandro Flores poured in 20 points, Camron Crisp added 14 and Rumbek Augustino and Bishop Dankyi chipped in nine points apiece as the Aurora Central boys basketball team topped Gateway 69-56. …The Regis Jesuit girls basketball team opened Continental League play with an 81-35 road win at Chaparral. Hana Belibi had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Coryn Watts had 17 points and Jane Rumpf 16. …Eianna Jackson scored 20 points and Amirah Pena added 11 as the Vista PEAK Prep girls basketball team defeated Eaglecrest 53-41 in a local matchup. …The Aurora Central girls basketball team picked up its sixth win of the season with a 48-20 Colorado League home win over Gateway. …The Rangeview girls basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 63-25 victory at Regis Groff. …The Grandview boys wrestling team defeated Eaglecrest 41-22 in a Centennial League showdown on the Wolves’ home mat. All 14 matches were contested and Grandview won eight of them, including wins by fall from Donavon Delbridge (126 pounds), Braxton Widrikis (132), Jonathan Montes Gonzales (157), Charlie Herting (165) and Leland Day (285). Dalton Leivian (190) had the lone win by fall for Eaglecrest, which picked up six wins in all. …The Rangeview boys wrestling team edged Denver South 42-41 and lost to Thomas Jefferson 51-24 in a tri-dual meet. Caleb Maez (138 pounds) won both of his matches by fall for the Raiders. …Eric Kelly (150 pounds), Isavande Siyfiyev (165) and Christopher Hussein (175) won by fall for the Overland boys wrestling team, whicih picked up seven wins in all, but fell to Arapahoe 38-30 in a Centennial League dual. …The Overland girls wrestling team earned a 42-39 road win over Arapahoe with help from wins by fall from Mihret Shimels (105 pounds), Violet Garcia (115), Natalee Alderete (135) and Dureti Abdulkadir (140) . …The Cherokee Trail girls swim team captured firsts in eight of 12 events on its way to a 124-59 Centennial League dual meet win against Mullen. Seunghee Oh, Grace Peterson, Lily Rosh, Sydney Tarr and Sage Trusler all picked up individual event wins for the Cougars along with diver Izzy Becker. …The Smoky Hill girls swim team played host to Overland in a Centennial League dual meet and recorded the only varsity score of 140.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 10: The Rangeview boys basketball team went on the road and picked up a big 51-48 non-league victory over Chaparral as Kenny Black-Knox scored 15 points and Royce Edwards added 10. …Mason Marshall scored a season-high 14 points — including a late free throw to give his team the lead — Eric Fiedler had 13, Damarius Taylor 12 and Lucas Dickinson 10 as the Regis Jesuit boys basketball team topped Cherry Creek 50-46. The Raiders held on after missing four free throws in the final two-plus minutes. …Five players for the Cherokee Trail boys basketball team — Braylen Thomas (17), Nathan Baack (11) and Amari Chandler, Naode Ghide and Alonzo Rodgers 10 apiece — scored in double digits in a 77-55 win over Rampart. …The Grandview girls basketball team pulled away from Valor Christian for a 65-52 under the new lights in its home gym. Sienna Betts racked up 25 points, while Deija Roberson had 14 and Ava Chang 13. …The Regis Jesuit boys wrestling team secured a 36-31 win over Castle View and 42-27 victory over Chaparral in a tri-dual meet. Connor Mohr (138 pounds) and Ryan Curran (157/165) wrestled two matches and won each. …The Smoky Hill boys wrestling team lost to Arapahoe 54-28 in a Centennial League dual match despite wins by fall from Dashawn Jenkins (113 pounds), Devin Smith (132) and Zachary Majernik (144). …Alexis Gonzalez (106 pounds), Fabrisio Nunez (175) and Andrew Pelenkahu (190) earned pins for the Aurora Central boys wrestling team in a 49-21 victory over Highlands Ranch. …The Eaglecrest girls wrestling team defeated Legacy 51-28 with victories in six of the 11 contested matches. Chasey Karabell (100 pounds), Milar Little (105), Jordan Heibult (120), Alaysia Ornelas (140) and Lilyana Valdez (145) won by fall. …Keira Vazquez (125 pounds) and Maddie Patterson (145) recorded pins in the Smoky Hill girls wrestling team’s 54-12 dual match loss to Arapahoe. … The Rangeview girls swim team defeated Thomas Jefferson 115-66 in a home dual meet in which the Raiders won nine of 12 events. Hailey McDonald and Shemiah Turner earned two event wins apiece, while Kayla Allen, Kate Gomez and Bella Gonzalez also took events for Rangeview. …The Gateway girls swim team picked up 57 points to top Aurora Central (42) and Adams City (7) in a tri-dual girls swim meet. The Olys — who honored their small group of seniors during the meet — won two of three relays, while Fenix Z’Dorn and Sophie Curry won two events apiece, while Nyssa Bailey also had a victory. The Trojans took the 200 freestyle relay, as well as individual events from Bridgette De Jesus and Emely Alvarez. …The Hinkley girls swim team claimed a tri-meet with Abraham Lincoln and Denver West with five wins in nine events contested. Kateland Rodriguez, Ana Campos and three relay teams took firsts for the Thunder.
TUESDAY, JAN. 9: The Eaglecrest boys basketball team and Rock Canyon played into overtime before a medical emergency for a Raptors’ player caused the game to be ended without conclusion. …The Overland boys basketball team defeated visiting Lewis-Palmer 80-64 in non-league play with a balanced effort that saw Isreal Littleton score 17 points, while Siraaj Ali added 16, Mehki McNeal 13 and Dontae Graham 10. … Camron Crisp’s 18-point performance helped the Aurora Central boys basketball team top Skyview 57-22. …The Hinkley boys basketball team topped Regis Groff 63-53. …The Overland girls basketball team outscored Kennedy 24-6 in the fourth quarter to cement a 67-40 victory. Destiny Moore scored 20 points for the Trailblazers, who also got 16 from Seilani Relford and 14 from Ilaisaane Davis. …The Regis Jesuit girls basketball team dropped a see-saw battle with visiting Cherry Creek, which dealt the Raiders a 60-56 loss despite Hana Belibi’s 20 points, 19 from Coryn Watts and 10 from Jane Rumpf. …The Grandview girls swim team lost to Cherry Creek 108-80 in a Centennial League dual meet. The Wolves won seven events — two apiece from Amelia Brown and Kaitlyn Hafer and one apiece from Keira Vail and diver Tanvi Jitta along with the 200 medley relay. …The Regis Jesuit girls swim team defeated Ponderosa 146-35 in a dual meet in which the Raiders won 11 of the 12 events. Charlotte Burnham won twice, while Emme Penry, Taylor Hoffman, Kate Deboer, Amelia Marsicek and Tierney Kohl had swim wins along with diver Maya Kriz. …The Eaglecrest girls swim team won a Centennial League dual meet with Overland 138-6 with victories in 11 of 12 events. Shannon Beaulieu had two of the wins for the Raptors, while Xuan-Nguyen Do had one win and tied for first in another event. Maya Richman claimed the diving competition for the Trailblazers.
