Vista Ridge’s girls basketball team had one of its closest games of the season and survived a thriller against Rampart last week.

Also, a bevy of athletes had career games on the basketball court as the end of the regular season nears.

Below is a recap of area athletes’ performances from the past week.

14ers

Jamari Hampton, fr., Sierra, boys basketball – Hampton’s first career 20-point game came in the Stallions’ biggest win of the season.

Sierra defeated Mitchell 67-47 and Hampton scored a career-high 23 points to help the Stallions earn their third win of the year.

The Stallions freshman also pulled down five rebounds, added three assists and shot 8 of 15 from the field.  

Amari Taylor, sr., Widefield, boys basketball – Taylor hit half of the Gladiators’ 10 3-pointers in their win against Cañon City.

In the 74-64 victory against the Tigers, Taylor scored a team-high 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc to give him his third consecutive game with 20 or more points.

Taylor finished the night with nine rebounds and had two assists with just two turnovers.

Gabe Gatti, sr., Peyton, boys basketball – A season high in made buckets and points stamped the senior’s night against Village last week.

Gatti finished with 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting and nailed a season-high six 3-pointers in the Panthers’ 62-39 victory against the Mountaineers. After the win, Gatti had 42 made 3-pointers and hit at least one shot from beyond the arc in his 16 games.

In the win, Gatti finished with three assists, three rebounds and three steals along with one block.

Kelsey Peterson, jr., The Classical Academy, girls basketball – Peterson nearly had a triple-double in the Titans’ victory against Sand Creek last week.

The Titans’ point guard finished the 64-26 win with 15 points, 10 rebounds, a season-high eight steals and five assists to help lead TCA to its fifth consecutive victory.

Following the win against the Scorpions, Peterson had 63 steals and had 26 during the Titans’ five-game win streak.  

Fallyn Mallette, jr., Calhan, girls basketball – The Bulldogs amassed 31 steals against Liberty Tree Academy and Mallette swiped nearly one-third of those.

Mallette finished the 61-24 victory with a game-high 10 steals and added 15 points and five assists for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs guard has 61 steals through 17 games and has three contests with seven or more steals.

Reagan Schultz, sr., Evangel Christian Academy, girls basketball – In her third 20-plus point game this season, the Eagles post player dominated Miami-Yoder.

Schultz scored a game-high 26 points and hit her second 3-pointer of the year in the Eagles’ 60-41 victory against the Buffaloes. Schultz also grabbed 16 rebounds, one shy of her season-best 17, which she’s achieved twice this year.

The Eagles senior is 24^th in Colorado at 11.2 rebounds per game and 190 through 17 contests, and 19^th in the state with 10 double-doubles.

Matty Dessalegn, sr., Vanguard, boys basketball – Dessalegn posted some of his best numbers this season en route to his first triple-double of the year.

In Vanguard’s 79-54 win against Florence on Saturday, Dessalegn scored a game-high 27 points, grabbed a career-high 17 boards and tied his career best in assists with 11.

Dessalegn has reached double-figure rebounds in five of the Coursers’ past six games and is 21^st in Colorado at 11.2 rebounds per game.

Micah Horowitz, jr., Peyton, boys wrestling – Horowitz crushed his opponents at the 2A region 3 tournament to place first and punch his ticket to this week’s state tournament.

In three matches, Horowitz went undefeated including a 4-2 decision victory in the finals against Las Animas’ Orion Martinez.

At the Duff Seaney Invite in Cañon City on Jan. 31, Horowitz faced Martinez and suffered a 9-0 major-decision loss. Since the defeat in Cañon City, Horowitz is 5-0.  

Jaden Merritt, so, Falcon, boys wrestling – At the 4A region 4 regional, Merritt cruised to a first-place finish in the 113-pound bracket.

Merritt earned a pair of pins and a 16-6 major decision against Discovery Canyon’s Radan Kruper-Peck to take the regional crown and finish 3-0.

His finals match against Kruper-Peck was the only instance Merritt relinquished points.

Brogan Trollope, jr., Pine Creek, boys wrestling – The lone point Trollope allowed in four matches came in the first period of the 5A region 3 regional’s first round. Besides that, the Eagles’ 175-pounder romped through his bracket.

Trollope went 4-0 including a forfeit by Heritage’s Diego Garcia in the championship to win the regional title and advance to state.

During the regional tournament, the Pine Creek junior outscored three opponents 12-1 and scored three pins.

Kayleigh Reese, jr., Calhan, girls wrestling – The Bulldogs’ 100-pounder entered the 4A region 4 tournament as top seed and showed her opposition how she earned that spot.

Reese finished the event with four wins, all by pin, to earn the regional crown and advance to the state tournament.

This is Reese’s third time placing first at a tournament this season and her first since the Marilyn Smith Invitational on Dec. 20.  

Jasmine Brewer, so., Woodland Park, girls wrestling – Brewer demolished her opponents in the 105 bracket during last week’s 4A region 1 tournament to secure a spot at state.

The Panthers sophomore finished 4-0 and won three of her four matches by pin to finish first. Brewer’s only nonpin win was against Holly’s Giana Tamayo, which was a 17-2 tech fall.

Brewer will enter the state tournament with an eight-match winning streak and each of those victories have come by technical fall or pin.

Rilen-Rose Casares, jr., Widefield, girls wrestling – Casares needed to bust her tail in the second period of her 5A region 2 championship match and she did just that.

The Gladiators heavyweight nullified a 3-2 deficit with a second-round pin to earn the regional title at 2-0 and to advance to the state tournament.

Casares has won six of seven matches and four in a row.

Ama Agbedor, jr., Vanguard, girls basketball – Agbedor nearly had a triple-double in the Coursers’ win against Florence on Saturday, but a strong double-double was enough to defeat the Huskies.

The Coursers beat the Huskies 50-34 and Agbedor finished with a career-high 21 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and two blocks.

Agbedor’s performance helped the Coursers end a three-game skid and helped push the junior to 55^th in the state at 9.7 rebounds per game.

Close contests

Boys basketball

The Classical Academy 49, Sand Creek 47

This was quite the turnaround from these teams’ first meeting.

TCA handed Sand Creek a 61-48 loss on Jan. 22 and saw Wilson Grothe heat up in the third quarter of that tilt. The next matchup, the Titans held a 34-28 lead through three quarters.

The Scorpions ended the final frame with a 19-15 advantage, but the Titans held off their opposition’s late-game surge to earn the win.

Three Titans reached double figures and Trace Cook led that bunch with 15 points. Grothe scored 14 and added five boards and five assists while Bradley Van Buren ended the night with 11 points.

Weston Van Slyke had team highs with 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals for the Scorpions. Jeffery Cooks scored 10 points and hit two 3-pointers.

Girls basketball

Vista Ridge 41, Rampart 40

The Wolves beat the Rams by 19 points in their Jan. 15 meeting. On Feb. 11, Vista Ridge had to stave off a ferocious fourth-quarter Rampart run to win.

After trailing 10-4 in the first, the Wolves outscored the Rams 20-8 in the second period to take a 24-18 advantage into the break. Vista Ridge snuck past the Rams 9-8 in the third to build a 35-26 lead into the fourth.

The Rams trailed 40-37 in the final minute and Ashley Guiao hit one of her two free throws with 11.8 seconds left in the game to make it 41-37. Rampart’s Zoe Waldrep banked in a 3-pointer as time expired, but the Rams fell a point shy of forcing overtime.

Guiao and Sole’ Alexander both finished with 12 points and Alexander snagged 11 rebounds, her 17^th game of the season with at least 10 boards.

Prep Editor’s corner

Shout out to a weekend of dominance on the mats  

The Colorado High School Activities Association released wrestling brackets Monday for the upcoming state tournament at Ball Arena in Denver.

During the three-day tournament, which begins Thursday and ends Saturday, more than 1,300 wrestlers will be represented along with nearly 220 schools.

Of that bunch, Air Academy’s and Pine Creek’s boys and Widefield’s and Pine Creek’s girls managed a feat that less than 20 schools accomplished. The Kadets, Eagles and Gladiators have at least 10 wrestlers heading to Ball Arena this week to compete for state titles.

The Eagles girls qualified 11 of 14 positions while the Eagles boys, Kadets boys and Gladiator girls all earned 10 spots at the tournament.

– Marcus Hill