(Brie Thomas/CHSAANow.com)
BOULDER — As two evenly matched teams stepped out on the court tonight for a big time conference game, the tension in the gym was at an all time high.
Fossil Ridge (14-7 overall, 8-2 Front Range League) opened the game with a zone defense which seemed to give Fairview some trouble to start the game, as the Knights (13-9, 7-4) didn’t end up on the board until two minutes into the first quarter.
Ultimately, it would add up to a 57-40 Fossil Ridge win on Tuesday.
The Sabercats found themselves leading the whole first half, ending the first quarter up by 10 over the Knights.
And their intensity didn’t let up as Regan Wess knocked down an early 3-pointer, maintaining their 10-point lead. From there, it looked like Fairview wouldn’t be unable to catch up.
Down by 11, the Knights knew they needed a spark to keep this game close and the only way they were going to do that was to beat Fossil Ridge in the free throw game. Denali Pinto and Ashley Panem made their way to the line but were only able to connect on one free throw.
When Fairview’s aggressive style of play turn to frustration toward the end of the half, Panem collected three fouls and was sent to the bench for the remainder of the half.
Heading into the locker room Fossil Ridge was on top of Fairview 25-16.
And then things got interesting.
Fairview was able to cut into the Sabercats lead. They started with an aggressive full court press which led Fossil Ridge to turn the ball over two separate times before making it over half court.
Grace O’Neil was able to jump an inbound pass and lay in an easy two points for Fairview, making the score 27-21, with Fossil Ridge still ahead.
As they got deeper into the third quarter, both teams started trading baskets for baskets, but Fairview’s twos started turning into threes as Panem and Logan Tidstrom both knocked down crucial 3-pointers. The lead was now down to two with four minutes left in the quarter.
As Fossil Ridge started to regain its lead, Fairview picked up some wind in their sails, as Panem hit yet another 3-pointer, tying the game 36-36 with two minutes left.
Little did the Knights know that Fossil Ridge wasn’t phased by their combative run, as the Sabercats were able to get the lead back to eight at the end of the third quarter. Fossil Ridge never found themselves down as they lead for the entire game.
“We make that strong run, we got to be able to sustain it, for the entire half, unfortunately we started getting a little bit tired near the end of the third quarter,” Fairview coach Rod Beauchamp said.
For the Knights they were looking to have a strong fourth quarter but unfortunately they couldn’t find what they were looking for, as Fossil Ridge continue their intensity throughout the rest of the game.
“I think we played really well, we played the way we were suppose to, we executed what we needed to,” said Sami Steffeck, the leading scorer for Fossil Ridge with 16 points. “We kept the intensity up the whole time which is what we wanted to do.”
As time ticked down Beauchamp decided to honor his senior girls on senior night as he substituted five of them in with 50 seconds left to play.
After a tough loss last night at Poudre, Fossil Ridge knew it needed a big win tonight and they did just that.
“The girls were pretty focused tonight, we knew what we had to do to get to fourth in our conference and after dropping a tough one to Poudre last night,” Fossil Ridge coach Chad Salz said. “The girls came in focused ready to play and the executed everything we asked.”