Preps roundup: Close games the theme for boys basketball

Highlights from Tuesday's high school sports scene around the Pikes Peak region.

Boys' basketball

Palmer Ridge 67, Canon City 49

At Palmer Ridge: Palmer Ridge (5-1) bounced back from its loss to Chatfield with a nonconference win over Canon City (3-3) Tuesday at home. After being down at halftime, the Bears stuck with their process and gave minutes to a variety of players, coach Nick Mayer said.

"Eventually, in the third quarter, we were able to break it open and hold them to four points," he said.

Palmer Ridge outscored the Tigers 34-14 in the second half. Matt Cameron led in scoring with 21 points including one drop from outside. Jeff Butler finished with 12, while four others scored six or better. Mayer said the team's balanced scoring is an asset right now.

"I think they are really becoming an unselfish team and not caring who gets the minutes," he said. "I think that makes it difficult to guard us, because you don't know who will be contributing at any given time in the night."

Next, Palmer Ridge plays its first 4A Pikes Peak League game against Cheyenne Mountain Thursday before breaking for the holidays.

Falcon 69, Colorado Springs Christian School 66, OT

At Falcon: Resilience proved to be Falcon's best teammate after the Falcons remained undefeated at 5-0 after holding off Colorado Springs Christian School (1-3) in an overtime battle.

Falcon (6-0) fell behind at times after getting into a lackluster performance, coach Greg Cox said, allowing the Lions to get up nine points at halftime.

"We continued with persistence through the second half," Cox said. "A couple of our guys got hot in the second half, who weren't in the first. We did a good job of just taking it one possession at a time."

While Mario Walker brought in 20 points for the Falcons, Shaun Liveechi had 13, Kwe'shaan Thomas had 10 and Chances Matlock finished with nine. Walker dropped four shots from the outside. Liveechi brought down five rebounds, and Thomas had four steals.

Spreading the scoring around the floor is one of the Falcons' toughest aspect to defend, Cox said.

"They ran a box one on us and it took them out of the game in the first half," he said. "But somebody else stepping up helps us and keeps them unable to focus on one particular player."

For the Lions, Justin Engesser had 18 points, and Chris Hildenbrand had 15. Engesser had five buckets from beyond the arc.

Mullen 59, Palmer 52

At Palmer: Palmer (1-4) took a close one on the chin in nonconference action against Mullen (3-2) senior Shannon Roberts put up 19 points for the Terrors, his best tally of the season. Roberts dropped four buckets from beyond the arc.

Palmer led the Mustangs 17-11 after the first quarter but gave up the lead through the second quarter. Scoring stayed even through the second half.

Barry Thomas had five rebounds and three steals for the Terrors defense.

Mullen stats were not reported.

Manitou Springs 61, Pueblo Centennial 45

At Pueblo Centennial: With a lot of help from outside buckets, Manitou Springs (1-3) put up its first win of the season over host Pueblo Centennial (1-2). The Mustangs dropped 10 from beyond the arc, six of which were courtesy of James Finsterwald.

Senior Chase Megyeri led Manitou Springs in scoring with 25, while Finsterwald, a senior, finished with 18.

Pueblo Centennial stats were not reported.

Cheyenne Mountain 66, Pine Creek 65

At Cheyenne Mountain: Despite Grant Morin and Joey Black scoring 13 points each, Pine Creek (2-3) fell by one point to Cheyenne Mountain (4-1) in nonconference play.

The Indians’ Ghassan Nehme scored 29 points including four drops from outside. This was his third game of the season scoring 19 or better. Ryan Ruppert notched 19 and dropped two from beyond the arc. Nehme brought down eight rebounds and blocked two shots. Ruppert nabbed seven and had three steals.

For the Eagles, Derek Keirns had eight rebounds. Morin had seven rebounds and two steals. Black had two blocked shots.

Girls' basketball

Liberty 41, Lewis-Palmer 37

At Liberty; Brooke Shade scored six of her team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter as Liberty held off a late rally to beat the Rangers.

A pair of Emma Weaver free throws gave Lewis-Palmer (0-6) a 36-35 lead with 2:11 left after trailing by as many as eight earlier in the quarter.

But on the ensuing trip down the court, Shade helped the Lancers (3-2) take the lead for good with a three-point play.

Palmer Ridge 42, Cheyenne Mountain 27

At Cheyenne Mountain: Palmer Ridge (5-1) proved too much to overcome after a 23-13 lead over host Cheyenne Mountain (1-3). The Bears begin the season undefeated on the road for two games. The Indians were held to single digits in each quarter against Palmer Ridge.

Cheyenne Mountain's Hunter Peifer led the team in rebounds with 11. She had three steals as well. Tori Burnett had four steals, and Alex Taylor had nine rebounds.

Palmer Ridge stats were not reported.

Mesa Ridge 67, Elizabeth 51

At Elizabeth: Five Grizzlies shot in double digits Tuesday to keep Mesa Ridge (4-0) undefeated against host Elizabeth (5-1), handing the Cardinals their first loss in nonconference action.

Leading Mesa Ridge in scoring was Gabby Purnell with 18 points including three hoops from outside. This was Purnell's third game of the season scoring 17 points or better. Sami Rudd finished with 14 and Tiffani Jackson had 13, shooting 55 percent.

Kylee Shook, who scored 10 points and was perfect at the foul line, and Rudd led in rebounds with six each. Shook blocked four shots as well.

Elizabeth stats were not reported.

ThunderRidge 70, Doherty 38

At Doherty: Doherty (3-2) took it on the chin at home facing undefeated visitor ThunderRidge (7-0) for nonconference action 70-38. The Grizzlies held the Spartans to single digits in three of the four quarters.

Ivory Masching scored 16 points for the Spartans and shot 67 percent. She drilled three from beyond the arc and was flawless at the foul line. Mariah Willey had five steals and two rebounds.

ThunderRidge stats were not reported.

Rampart 70, Ponderosa 17

At Ponderosa: Rampart (4-0) hit the road to Parker and throttled host Ponderosa (1-4) in nonconference action 70-17. The Rams outscored the Mustangs by 30 points in the first half alone, shutting down Ponderosa’s offense entirely in the first quarter. Rampart outscored Ponderosa 26-3 in the third.

Cassidy Budge and Nicea Eliely each scored 14 points for the Rams. Eliely scored 83 percent. Victoria Mondy had 17 rebounds, 12 of which came on defense. Budge and Megan Kavalec each had four steals.

Ponderosa stats were not reported.

Pueblo South 78, Fountain-Fort Carson 37

At Fountain-Fort Carson: Being held to single digits in three quarters didn’t help Fountain-Fort Carson (4-4) in its nonconference matchup against Pueblo South (5-1), which outscored the Trojans 42-13 in the first half.

The biggest contention for Fountain-Fort Carson was Shannon Patterson who scored 31 points for Pueblo South, her season’s best thus far. She had five 3-pointers from outside.

Fountain-Fort Carson’s Amber Perryman finished with 19 points, including one 3-pointer.

Coronado 50, Florence 35

At Coronado: Although neither team had a high scoring first half, it was Coronado (3-3) that opened things up in the fourth quarter to beat Florence (2-4) in nonconference action.

The Huskies’ Carly Chaney scored nine points. Taron Rusanski had 11 rebounds. Megan Droll had three steals.

Coronado stats were not reported. 

Wrestling

Rampart 51, Vista Ridge 28

At Rampart: Vista Ridge may have had success in the middle weights against host Rampart, but it was the Rams' light and heavy weight classes that brought on the win during dual meet action.

Austin Midbrandt at 152 pounds, Dylan Holmes (160) and Conor Kennedy (106) were able to put up pinfall points for the Wolves. Also winning in the middle-weights for Vista Ridge was Chris Mann at 145 with a 12-1 major decision.

Rampart however booked a pinfall in five of the nine classes it won, three of which were by forfeit. Getting shoulders to the mat for the Rams were KAleb Edens (126), Brett Rubidoux (132), Christian Perkins (170), Nicholas McNerney (182) and Nichols Dunham (195). Also earning points was Paul Diest at 120 who won a close 10-8 decision over Vista Ridge's Trent Turban.

Girls' swimming

Air Academy 202, Coronado 112

At Rampart: Air Academy (1-1) had things reasonably well in hand for most events during its head-to-head meet against Coronado (0-2) with the exception of a few Cougar bright spots and a few close races.

The Kadets' Samantha Steigerwald won both the 200-yard freestyle event in 2 minutes, 08.22 seconds, less than one second ahead of teammate Megan Dearden. Steigerwald also took the 100 butterfly with 1:05.64, and helped the team's 400 free relay foursome take first as well.

In closest race of the meet, Air Academy's Ashley Dickerson took first in the 100 free with 58.29, narrowly edging Coronado's Sarah Stafford who was second with 58.30.

In the 200 individual medley, Lydia Draper won with 2:14.72 for the Kadets. Hannah Brockie was first in the 500 free with 5:49.75, and Knock took the 100 breaststroke with 1:16.21. Kayla Knock also helped the team's 200 medley relay squad win its event, .25 seconds ahead of their counterparts from Coronado. Brockie and Dickerson also helped the 400 free relay team to a win.

Coronado's best moments came from Katie Jacobs who won the 100 backstroke just under .5 seconds ahead of Dearden at 1:06.82, while Stafford took the 50 free at 26.99, .79 seconds ahead of Air Academy's Elise Cloonan. Cloonan was also on the 200 medley relay team which took first. The Cougars' 200 free relay team also pulled in first place featuring Katie Field, Tessa Konik, Carson Fair and Emily Randono.

Pine Creek 124, Fountain-Fort Carson 58

At Fountain-Fort Carson: Pine Creek (1-2) put down Fountain-Fort Carson (1-2) in its head-to-head meet against the host, finishing first in every event including the 1-meter diving.

The Eagles' Rowan Brzezinski and Sydney Galloway each won two events. Brzezinski took first in the 100 fly with 1:11.73 and the 100 back with 1:13.76. Galloway's first place finishes were in the 100 breast at 1:21.29, .36 seconds ahead of second-place teammate Madison Cooper, and the 200 IM at 2:39.26. Cooper won the 100 free with 59.28.

Abigail Smith won the diving event with 179.35 points. Mackenzie Oliver took the 50 free with 27.83, less than a second ahead of teammate Esther Choi. In the 200 free, Olivia Chatman was first at 2:11.00, and Anna Conroy took the 500 free at 6:29.16.

Choi and Conroy were teamed with Regan Batides and Hannah Quidachay to win the 200 medley relay event. Oliver, Quidachay and Choi took the 200 free relay with Jessica Allen, and the 400 free relay was won by Oliver, Allen, Cooper and Camila Munoz-Velasquez.

Rampart 108, Doherty 78

At Doherty: Rampart (3-0) continued to heat up the lanes, this time against host Doherty (1-1) in head-to-head action.

Lindsey Horning won the 50 free for the Rams at 26.56, a mere breath ahead of Doherty's Shea Hawley who was second. Horning also took first in the 100 free with 57.74, also with Hawley on her tail.

Rampart's Julie Henninger won the 200 free with 2:04.95 as well as the 100 back with 1:03.05. Riley Koldenhoven was first in the 200 IM with 2:26.90, less than a second over teammate Jessica Chen. Olivia Parvin, who was second in the 200 free, pulled out a win in the 100 fly at 1:05.53.

Rampart win each of the relay events with Rachel Sinclair, Chen, Koldenhoven and Allison Popelar taking the 200 medley. Parvin, Popelar, Horning and Henninger won the 200 free relay, and Chen, Horning, Popelar and Henninger teamed up to win the 400 free.

For the Spartans, Sarah Collie put up a 5:48.99 to win the 500 free, less than two seconds over Koldenhoven. Kina Boe won the 100 breast at 1:22.31. The 1-meter diving event also went to Doherty, credited to Kiernan Kerr who nabbed 153.20 points.

Liberty 106, Palmer 80

At Palmer: Despite winning three events, Palmer (1-2) couldn't take Liberty (3-0) in head-to-head action as the Lancers' Samantha Lenzmeier and Carsen Glass each won two events.

Lenzmeier took first in the 100 fly with 1:07.19 and the 100 breast at 1:18.14. Glass took the wall in the 100 free at 59.50 and the 200 IM at 2:25.68.

Also for Liberty, Taylor McKittrick won the 100 back with 1:12.86, and Megan Jones was first in the 500 free with 6:03.10. All three of the Lancers' relay teams also placed first including Jones, Glass, Lenzmeier and Allison Ramirez in the 200 medley, McKittrick, Ramirez, Lenzmeier and Glass in the 200 free and McKittrick, Jones, Ramirez and Leanne Trump winning the 400 free.

The Terrors' Amy Fink won the 200 free with 2:23.66, and Isabella Farrell won the diving event with 196.30 points.