After the California Bears at Colorado game, I was looking forward to a light week of shooting leading up to my birthday on the 2nd.  My first game of the week was Columbine High School girls basketball at Ralston Valley.

I had seen Columbine already over at Arvada West High School when they faced the Lady Wildcats.  But I am constantly impressed every time I see this Ralston Valley team.  Their court awareness is great.  Which is one of the reasons why Ralston Valley is sitting at the top of the Jeffco 5A standings, undefeated in league play and ranked #3 in the state at the 5A level.

Columbine is sitting in the middle of the Jeffco league, and not even in the top 50 for the state.  And Ralston Valley showed the visiting Rebels what it is like to face a top ranked team.  In the first quarter the Lady Mustangs slapped Columbine with a 20 to 4 lead.  The Lady Rebels knew early on this was going to be a long night for them.

It is difficult shooting a team that is just not getting the shots off, or rebounds.  You end up with a lot of dribbling photos, or defense photos.  In the second quarter, Ralston Valley continued to hold a basketball clinic and out scored Columbine 19 to 9 to go into the halftime break with a 39 to 13 lead.

Now, I have noticed quite a few times during this high school season when a team is getting taken to school, something happens in the locker room at halftime that charges them up and they come out and play a much better second half.  So, I was hoping for something more from Columbine when the third quarter started.  Would I be blessed with Columbine making it somewhat of a game?

No I would not.  The Ralston Valley ladies kept the Lady Rebels scoreless in the third quarter while adding another 24 points to the scoreboard.  Going into the final quarter Ralston Valley held a 50 point lead at 63 to 13.  It would be a miracle if Columbine could come back now.

And no miracle would come for the Lady Rebels.  The were only able to score 7 more points to finish at 20, while the Lady Mustangs would tack on 20 more points to win by 63, totaling 83 points for the game.

I have said this in the past about a couple Ralston Valley teams, but I really think the RV girls could be the team to beat in the State Championship in March.  They are just a hot team.

To view and purchase photos from this game please visit my Maxpreps Gallery.