Friday's roundup: Vanguard girls' hoops wins battle of unbeatens against Simla

Highlights from Friday's high school sports scene around the Pikes Peak region

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

The Vanguard School 50, Simla 39

At Simla: Bailey Haist tied career highs in 3-pointers and points in a 2A Black Forest League showdown, as Pikes Peak area 2A No. 1 The Vanguard School (15-0, 5-0 league) remained perfect on the season and handed Simla (13-1, 5-1) its first loss on Friday.

Haist hit seven 3s on her way to a 26-point performance, and the Coursers grabbed 44 rebounds to pull away in the second half.

Next up for the Coursers is 2A No. 3 Evangelical Christian Academy at ECA, also unbeaten in league play.

“I was not happy at the beginning of the season (to play ECA on the road),” Coursers coach Frank Haist said. “This turns out to be the best prep for the state playoff. You play a good team Friday, then play a good team Saturday. We’re just going to have to show up tomorrow against ECA and match our play and get even better.”

Angel McNulty and Caitlin Bower each grabbed 11 rebounds for the Coursers, and Bailey Haist finished with a double-double after grabbing 10 steals.

The Coursers trailed 16-10 after the first quarter but outscored Simla 40-23 the rest of the way, including holding the Cubs to 15 points in the second half.

Sand Creek 48, Air Academy 41

At Sand Creek: Two players scored in double figures to help 4A No. 2 Sand Creek (15-3, 10-0 4A Pikes Peak Athletic Conference) come back with a third-quarter rally to defeat 4A defending state champion Air Academy (10-8, 7-3) for the second time this season.

Mikayla Reese scored 17 and Terra Murray chipped in 10 to lead the Scorpions.

No stats were given for Air Academy.

Manitou Springs 56, Fountain Valley 29

At Manitou Springs: Pikes Peak area 3A No. 3 Manitou Springs (11-6, 9-1 3A Tri-Peaks West) rolled to its fourth consecutive win, staying on pace for next week’s rematch with first-place The Classical Academy.

Seven players scored for the Mustangs, who were led by Ali Thompson’s 18 points, 10 coming at the free-throw line. Gabby Santos added 12 points.

The Mustangs held the Danes to single digits in the first three quarters. Delia Brekken scored 11 for Fountain Valley.

Lewis-Palmer 30, Cheyenne Mountain 22

At Cheyenne Mountain: Eight players spread out the scoring to lead Lewis-Palmer (9-10, 4-6 PPAC) past Cheyenne Mountain (2-16, 1-9).

Sarah Lyons led the Rangers with eight points and Alexa Smith added seven.

Teresa Lacayo - one of six Indians to score - led Cheyenne Mountain with six points.

Hanover 39, Elbert 37

At Elbert: Hanover (10-4, 4-1 1A Black Forest League) rallied with 13 points in the fourth quarter to beat Elbert (4-10, 2-1) by two.

Lexie Dalton's double-double led the Hornets, as she scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. McKenzie Dalton chipped in 11.

Palmer Ridge 48, Discovery Canyon 32
At Discovery Canyon: Palmer Ridge rode a 15-1 second quarter to pull away from Discovery Canyon for good.

Madison Thomas scored 17 and Rhyle Lane added 10 for the Bears.

HOCKEY

Cheyenne Mountain 3, Liberty 1

At Sertich: Ryan Case’s hat trick gave Cheyenne Mountain (4-11-1, 4-7) the win and kept the Indians very much in the playoff race.

Case scored once in the first and twice in the third move the Indians into a tie for ninth place, two points behind Bishop Machebeuf. The Indians have a game in hand.

Liberty (2-16-1, 2-11-1) got its goal from Alex McAfee who temporarily cut the Cheyenne Mountain lead to 2-1. But Case completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal with 42 seconds remaining.

Air Academy 3, Lewis-Palmer 2

At Colorado Sports Center: Travis Hinton’s goal midway through the third period proved to be the game-winner, as area No. 3 Air Academy (13-4-1, 11-3) held off Lewis-Palmer (7-8-1, 5-51).

The victory moved Air Academy back into a tie for first place in the Peak Conference, as the Kadets and Heritage each have 22 points.

Travis Work opened the scoring for the Kadets in the second period, and Nick Law’s short-handed goal gave Air Academy a 2-0 lead 21 seconds into the third.

Cam Brummond pulled one back for the Rangers, before Hinton’s goal. Adam Schaefer also scored for L-P.

Steamboat Springs 5, Fountain Valley 1

At Steamboat Springs: Matt Hale, Jackson Perry and Brandon Martin scored first-period goals, as Steamboat Springs (7-8-2) opened a 3-0 lead that No. 1 Fountain Valley (12-4) couldn’t overcome.

Trevor Shott scored for the Danes in the nonconference game.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Sand Creek 69, Air Academy 60

At Sand Creek: 4A No. 1 Sand Creek narrowly avoided a letdown following Tuesday’s win over defending champ Lewis-Palmer, but had to wait until the fourth quarter to do it.

Dylan Clark scored a game-high 26 points, as the Scorpions (18-0, 10-0) headed into the final period tied with Air Academy (8-10, 3-6) 52-52. But a 17-8 fourth kept the Scorpions alone in first place in conference. Clark and Josh Smith each hit four 3-pointers in the game. Smith finished with 19 points.

Air Academy had three players in double digits, led by Bobby Davis’ 13 and Paul Fertig’s 12.

Manitou Springs 83, Fountain Valley 24

At Manitou Springs: 3A No. 3 Manitou Springs (10-7, 8-2 3A Tri-Peaks West) hit seven 3-pointers and jumped out to a 22-11 lead after the first quarter before rolling past Fountain Valley (4-11, 2-7).

Chase Megyeri hit three 3s and finished with a game-high 23 points. KC Quarry scored 11, Chad Sienknecht finished with 10 and Marcus Rodholm hit a pair of 3s to finish with eight points.

Joey Morris led the Danes with 10 points.

Pikes Peak Chr. 58, CSS 44

At CSS: Brian Morse posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Jacob Bruner matched him with a team-high 17 points to lead Pikes Peak Christian (8-7, 2-4 2A Black Forest) past Colorado Springs School (4-11, 1-5).

The Eagles jumped out to a 17-4 lead after one quarter and never looked back.

Falcon 64, Vista Ridge 35

At Vista Ridge: A 17-5 lead after the first period turned into a 35-15 lead at the half for Falcon (11-8, 4-6 Pikes Peak Athletic Conference).

Ten Falcons got on the scoresheet, led by Chances Matlock’s 12 points and Tyler Stover’s 10.

Vista Ridge (5-14, 2-8) had eight players score, led by Avante Nelms’ 12 points.

Elbert 67, Hanover 23

At Elbert: Elbert (10-4, 3-0 1A Black Forest League) used an 18-2 first quarter and followed it up with a 15-3 second quarter to beat Hanover (3-11, 3-2).