14ners

Bailey Fritzke, sr., Vanguard, girls basketball – It’s fitting that Fritzke played as if possessed by a demon against Buena Vista.

The Coursers senior stuffed the stat sheet in the 58-57 overtime victory against the Demons and scored 23 points.

Fritzke also had eight rebounds, five steals and made six 3-pointers for the Coursers in the victory.

Sophia Daigle, so., Liberty, girls swimming – The Lancers sophomore matched her season-best time in the 50 free during the Metro League Conference Championships.

Daigle won the event with a 25.16-second swim, just ahead of Pine Creek’s Jacquelyn Erickson, who placed second at 25.23.

Daigle’s time in the 50 free earned her the fastest time in the event among Lancers swimmers this season.

Brandon McIlhany, sr., Liberty, ice hockey – McIlhany wrapped last week with eight points for the Lancers and a hat trick in a 10-0 win against Woodland Park.

In his past four games, McIlhany has registered a hat trick in three of them and now has 15 goals for the year.

Bella Arellano-Gandy, fr., Coronado, girls wrestling – Arellano-Gandy earned a pair of pin-fall victories in Cañon City last weekend and won the 105-pound bracket at the 2024 Girls SCSML League Championships.

The Cougars freshman improved to 32-10 with the pair of victories and earned her pins in the first and second period of the semifinals and finals.

Noah Johnson, sr., Lewis-Palmer, boys basketball – In back-to-back games, Johnson posted career highs in points.

Against Air Academy, the Rangers’ senior scored 22 points to help Lewis-Palmer earn a victory. Johnson followed with a 27-point game in an 86-41 win against Cheyenne Mountain.

In the matchup with the Red-Tailed Hawks, Johnson hit a career-high five 3-pointers and improved his points per game average to 13.4 this season.

Luke Diehl, sr., Coronado, boys wrestling – In three matches at the 2024 Boys SCSML League Championships last weekend, Diehl feasted on his opposition.

Diehl earned a win by major decision and two by pin fall including at 1:06 in the second period of the finals to earn first place.

His three victories last Saturday gave Diehl his 11th consecutive win and his second consecutive tournament victory.

Audrey Vannelli, sr., Doherty, girls swimming – During the Metro League Conference Championship, Vannelli earned a pair of wins in the 200 IM and the 500 freestyle.

Vannelli had the fastest preliminary and finals time in the 200 and clocked in at 2:12.09 in the finals to win the event.

In the 500 free, Vannelli built a 4-second lead against Rampart’s Mya Bland and finished in 5:18.98.

James Pulliam, sr., Doherty, boys basketball – The Spartans needed to have an incredible start against the Terrors to defeat a formidable Palmer squad and Pulliam gave Doherty that spark.

Pulliam scored 13 of his 23 points in the first quarter and helped the Spartans take a 15-8 lead after the first quarter.

Kinley Asp, so., Colorado Springs Christian School, girls basketball – In three games last week, Asp scored 18, 17 and 21 points for the Lions.

Asp set the tone in the Lions’ matchup against No. 6 St. Mary’s and started the game on a personal 5-0 run against the Pirates.

The Lions sophomore nearly notched a quadruple double against James Irwin and finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and nine steals.

Leekaya Burke-Perryman, jr., Pine Creek, girls basketball – In four games last week, Burke-Perryman scored 56 points, had 27 assists and eight steals for the Eagles.

The Eagles junior tied her season best of nine assists, which she set earlier in the week against Rampart, in Pine Creek’s game against Fountain-Fort Carson and poured in 14 points in the victory.

The Spartans senior finished with 19 points in Doherty’s 74-31 win against Liberty.

Myka Martinez, so., Widefield, girls wrestling – At the 2024 Girls SCSML League Championships, no one had an answer for Martinez.

The Gladiators 145-pounder earned four wins, three by pin fall, improved to 26-5 and finished first in the bracket.

Martinez’s performance at the tournament also gave Widefield 16 of its 64 points.

Cameron Rowney, sr., Vanguard, boys basketball – In a 74-46 win against Buena Vista, Rowney knocked down five 3-pointers and tied a season high with 26 points.

It’s the seventh time in 15 games this season that Rowney has eclipsed 20 points for the Coursers and it’s the eighth time he’s hit three or more 3-pointers.

In three games last week, Rowney had 14 assists and 11 steals and hit 11 3s.

Donte Roane, jr., Mesa Ridge, boys wrestling – Roane has wrestled just once in overtime this season and, after the 2024 Boys SCSML League Championships last weekend, he’s 1-0 in OT.

The Grizzlies junior earned a 6-5 overtime victory in the third round and finished the tournament 4-0 en route to first place.

Roane also picked up three pins at the tournament to improve to 21-10 this season.

Erin Byrnes, sr., Lewis-Palmer, girls swimming – The Rangers’ diver finished first in the event with nearly a 90-point advantage over second place during the Pikes Peak Athletic Conference Championship.

Byrnes earned 441.45 points in the event to give the Rangers one of their five first-place finishes of the event.

Compelling contests

Boys’ basketball

Banning Lewis 64, Salida 61 (OT)

Banning Lewis led by as much as 16 in the first half, trailed by four points with 1:55 left in their tilt with the Spartans, but managed to earn the victory in overtime.

Trey Oden hit a pair of free throws in the final 12 seconds of overtime to build the Stallions’ lead to three and Banning Lewis locked down the Spartans to close the contest.

After the win against Salida, Banning Lewis improved to 8-0 at home this season and notched a notable win against last season’s Class 3A state runners up.

Joseph Bjegovich finished with a season-high 19 points for the Stallions as they improved to 14-3 this season.

Doherty 71, Palmer 56

The Terrors scored a season-low 56 points and allowed a season-high 71 to the Spartans in Palmer’s third loss of the season.

Doherty’s Elijah Mack matched a career high in points and finished with 26 against the Terrors. Mack also finished with four steals for the Spartans.

The Spartans’ win against Palmer gave them their seventh consecutive victory and helped Doherty improve to 13-5 after a 2-4 start to the year.

Girls’ basketball

Vanguard 58, Buena Vista 57 (OT)

Vanguard trailed 23-11 at halftime against Buena Vista but scorched the Demons for 20 points in the third quarter.

The Coursers outscored the Demons 18-16 in the fourth quarter to force overtime where Vanguard edged out Buena Vista 9-8 to earn the win.

Vanguard’s victory against Buena Vista makes six in a row for the Coursers against the Demons and helped them improve to 11-4.

Notable accomplishments

Peyton’s Abbie Nickell joins 1,000-point club

The Panthers senior has scored in double-figures in 14 of Peyton’s 15 games and has scored 20 or more in five of the last six games.

Nickell, who averages 18 points per contest, has increased her scoring average each year and improved from 11.3 as a freshman to her current clip.

Through 15 games this year, Nickell has 270 points, which is 58 shy of her mark of 328 she had in 23 games as a junior.

Nickell joins teammate AJ Mannering, who also joined the 1,000-point club this season.

Lewis-Palmer girls wrestling earns first-ever dual victory

Lewis-Palmer’s girls wrestling program, which began in the 2022-2023 season, earned a 36-18 dual win over Falcon on Jan. 31 to notch the girls’ first dual win.

Rangers’ wrestlers Sarah Brown, Julianna Wainwright, D Shae Ferguson, Z Beaulieu, Joe Powell and Lilly Lundy earned Lewis-Palmer’s points in the victory.