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Ball Fever: Spotlighting the players who aren’t afraid to do the “dirty work”

Thomas Trotman
Ball FeverBoys BasketballFeatured0 Comments 1
Rock Canyon Regis Jesuit boys basketball

(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

Welcome back, hoops fans.

Heard from a few different coaches our Fever Crew respects this week and we picked up on a theme: “The little things, DIRTY WORK.” Yes, you must put the ball in the whole and outscore the other team to win but as one of our running mates always says, “There’s two sides of the darn court … gotta get some stops too!”

This got us to thinking about a bit of a different angle. We track the top teams and high scorers but this week let’s zero in on some of our boys who may not get the “shine” of being a top scorer but aren’t afraid of doing the “Dirty Work” to help get the team a win.

Week 7, Ball Fever “Dirty Work” Edition, Part 1:

Monday, Jan. 15

  • “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Tuesday, Jan. 16

  • Appropriate that this week’s action starts with GW who jumped to No. 3 in our poll after an ultra impressive week of 3 wins on the road last week. GW began league play vs. Montbello (FNE) and they kept on marching with a 76-64 win. Mohammed Diallo has been scoring more of late but he’s our “dirty work” player pulling down 8 offensive rebounds and 5 defensively for 13 total! Patriots are rolling…
  • Dennis Pluess covered D’Evelyn taking on tough 3A Faith Christian … and it took a rally
  • We know No. 1 Rock Canyon has two prolific scorers in that back court but once again the third senior of “The Firm” did the “dirty work” as Blake Williams scored 13 with 9 big rebounds in the rivalry win over No. 8 Regis
  • Let’s go over to 4A for some more top 10 action! Silver Creek, now No. 6, hosted No. 4 Longmont and came up just short at home by 2. Longmont’s dirty work? Dallas Dye is leading in rebounds at 6 per game and Brady Renck is running away with an impressive 3 steals per.
  • Mountain Range traveled to Legacy and came away with a 20 point win. How about senior Mike Polson’s work with 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals! Now that’s “stat stuffin” a little “dirty work”.
  • When you think blue collar work a Mead/Windsor battle should pop right up. Mead got the upset on this night over No. 9 Windsor by 5. Junior Brennen Seyboldt was grinding for 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals.
  • Boulder made a late run but came up just short in a league game at Horizon 60-59. Junior Alex Lawrence hit big for 24 points in the win.
  • Widefield shut Mitchell down defensively only giving up single digits in two of the four quarters. Tre Pierre can do many things well but he was in the paint for 8 “dirty work” rebounds and even found time for 2 assists.
  • ThunderRidge has somewhat quietly worked it’s way right on up to 5A No. 2 this week. Our Fever Crew has documented the improvement of Douglas County down south…well? The Grizzlies weren’t impressed as they “doubled-up” DougCo 64-32. The scoring of Hammonds and McCaw has been stated before but fellow senior Tyson Cruickshank scored 11 in this win and is averaging 3 assists, 3 steals per game!
  • Thompson Valley, in at No. 10 in 4A, is no stranger to work and Hayden Ell’s workman like 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals helped in the pounding of Niwot at home.
  • Harrison pulled off the win down south over Sierra but no fault of the Stallions soph Imani Grigsby who scored 22, pulled down 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Again, stat-stuffing dirty work!
  • Shooting 8-11 for 73% from the field you will get some “dirty work” love from our Crew! That was Pierre Taylor’s scoring for Pueblo West in the win over Pueblo County and he added 3 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.
  • Haven’t talked about this young man enough and even though Brendan Sullivan is Highlands Ranch “go-to guy”, leading scorer he’s earned a shout in the “dirty work” edition. He’s averaging 22 per game and a huge reason H-Ranch is ranked 10 in 5A.
  • Rampart was on a bit of a streak but Doherty has a couple of guys putting in work on the inside too! Alijah Bates 12 rebounds and Joe Golden’s 11 (along with 4 assists) helped the Spartans make an early league statement winning by 10 at Rampart.
  • Chap’s Bryce Matthews is a D-1 baseball stud on the rise but the Wolverines are so happy he joined the hoops squad this year! He’s tough, does the dirty work we’ve discussed today, and…ummm…welll…uhhhh can grab alley oops off the backboard too! Chap humbled Pondo on this night with numerous high flying dunks and defense.

Wednesday, Jan. 17

  • Just because soph Luke O’Brien can score it with the best … don’t think he’s afraid to mix up the “dirty work” in Jeffco.
  • Valor has climbed to No. 7 in our poll but got a scare from Wheatridge who took them to the final minute of a 61-59 Eagles win. Workhorse? Jeremy Randle leads Valor in scoring, assists, and steals!
  • Smoky Hill has dropped from our 5A top 10 but we have a feeling this team is long from written off. They held home court tonight 66-48 over Centennial foe Arapahoe. Big man Will Becker can get it done offensively but he’s also pulling 10 rebounds and blocking 3 shots per game!
  • You can’t say “dirty work” in Aurora/EMAC without mentioning Rangeview’s Ryan Ongala. The tough big man scored 17 and pulled down 4 rebounds in win over Broomfield which is the role he plays night in and night out for the Raiders.
  • It seemed like just last week the Fever Crew was saying that Grandview was just about as hot as it could get. Well, a week or so later, take a look at Overland heating up at the right time! The Trailblazers have benefited from a brutal early schedule and one of their hard workers senior Goy Wang scored 16 in the last second win over the Wolves where Daijon Smith hit the “walk off” 3! Feel the excitement.

  • Adam Thistlewood did the scoring for No. 6 Golden and our “dirty work” candidate in the win over Littleton is senior Joe Madden and his 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
  • Lincoln has been playing better ball of late but Boulder was determined not to lose another heart breaker in back to back nights. The Panthers had two sophs not just doing the little things but scoring big in Caleb Wehmuller’s 20 points and Tyler Turner’s 18. Five point road win for Boulder.
  • No. 1 Lewis-Palmer has legacy on their side, scoring of Scott and Raggsdale, but Dan Mohrmann sees that “dirty” 1-2-2 half court press making a difference too!
  • The Fever Crew made it out to Cherry Creek for our first look at “new look” Eaglecrest. We’ve seen Cherry Creek and knew football stud Dimitri Stanley would surely be all over the “dirty work” for the Bruins, but it was the Raptors who took this game Creek had a chance to tie at the buzzer but a 3-pointer came up short with no time remaining. Sophomore Sebastian Cole was impressive for Creek and plays much more poised than a soph, but the Raptors timely late plays including this “monsta” jam by Thomas Dangerfield III helped seal the road win.

Now, that dunk is the definition of “DIRTY”!

Midweek Thoughts

That was fun, folks! Top scorers and well known players keep our high school scene fun but as many a coach has shared with us over the years: “It’s the little things and the guys who do the ‘dirty work’ that make the difference!”