Metro State Fall League: 52 Days to Tryouts
High school fall basketball leagues typically display a void of chemistry so deep that they’re accused of being anti-science. I popped into the Auraria Event Center for some fall ball Wednesday night and, while it wasn’t an exhibit from the…
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Continue ReadingHigh school fall basketball leagues typically display a void of chemistry so deep that they’re accused of being anti-science. I popped into the Auraria Event Center for some fall ball Wednesday night and, while it wasn’t an exhibit from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, there was some budding team chemistry in the works. You can tell some programs have kept their kids engaged and are using the competitive league at Metro State University to keep building team cohesion.
If a varsity team is willing to drive up from Colorado Springs or down from Severance week after week when the games don’t even count, you know that team is all-in. The Vanguard School migrated north on Wednesday with their shooting well-calibrated for so early in the fall. I loved the game between the Coursers and the Littleton Lions. The Vanguard School (3A) has sought out lofty 5A and 4A competition all off-season. I’ve seen Hailey Blanchard Hailey Blanchard 5'7" | PG The Vanguard School | 2023 State CO play four times now and highlighting her on this site is way overdue. She scored 9.3 PPG and dropped an eye-popping 6.2 APG (1st in 3A, as was her 2.83 A/T Ratio) in 2021. She has such a quick release and, as good as 31% behind the arc really is, I think her numbers from last year were an anomaly. She’s a 40% three-point shooter or better. Against Littleton, Blanchard scored around 18 points. And she’s far more than a shooter. In the Coursers’ second game against Horizon I saw her catch on the block and with the poise of a 5’11” senior, this 5’7″ junior pivoted middle and bounce passed a threading assist to a cutting teammate. She defends with terrific energy, too.
Blanchard’s quick release is only matched by her southpaw teammate, Juliana Garcia Juliana Garcia 5'7" | SG The Vanguard School | 2023 State CO . Garcia torched the Tri-Peaks league for 17.2 points and 3.3 assists per game last year with 40% 3-point shooting. Complete the chemical compound with superathlete, Ramiyah Byrd Ramiyah Byrd 6'1" | SF SPIRE Institute And Academy | 2023 State CO (13.6 PPG, 9.5 RPG), and it’s no wonder The Vanguard School went 15-1 last year. They’ll be amongst the favorites for a 3A title this season. Byrd doesn’t just run the floor, she flies down the court (couldn’t resist the pun only because it’s so true).
Meanwhile, the Lions are prowling, quietly and consistently gaining on the competition in 4A. Littleton has a young, cohesive group and will likely start three sophomores. Leading scorer, Penny Urquhart Penny Urquhart 5'10" | SG Littleton | 2024 State CO (’24, 5’9″) is their most consistent, inside/outside scorer. She can’t be left open from the outside and is fully capable to drive and pull up or step back from midrange as well. Jacy Chandler Jacy Chandler 5'10" | SF Littleton | 2024 State CO (’24, 5’10”) and Marlee Hernandez-Priest (’23, 5’8″) can also knock down threes, while Daysha Sagrillo (’24, 6’1″) and Dalana Jakovljevic Dalana Jakovljevic 6'0" | C Littleton | 2023 State CO (’23, 6’0″) do their work from the inside. The Lions will have one of the bigger lineups in 4A and they’re quickly becoming one of the more skilled teams as well. They were within seven points of The Vanguard School midway through the fourth quarter before the Coursers pulled away.
As good as The Vanguard School is (they’d be top-10 in 4A, top-20 in 5A), in the next game Horizon beat them 42-26 behind a wickedly high powered group of Audra Vine Audra Vine 5'4" | PG Horizon | 2022 State CO (14.3 PPG, 3.8 APG), Natalie Thornton (who just two weeks ago tore it up at the PGH Top 250 Expo), Alyssa Temple, and Kaitlin Schumann Kaitlin Schumann 6'4" | PF Horizon | 2025 State CO . The best gift a skilled guard can receive is a multidimensional center. Vine, who just announced her commitment to play at Fort Lewis next year, was gifted a 6’3″ future star in Schumann, to be the proton to her neutron. Horizon’s highly respected program will be back to their usual dominant selves again after two years around .500. As you can see here, Horizon would be in for a big year even without the addition of Schumann. With her, they could be playing until mid-March. More on Schumann and Temple to come.
I have a ton of notes on Westminster, Rangeview, Severance, Cherokee-Trail, and Ponderosa, too, and plan to stop downtown for more games in the coming weeks. Watch for more updates as we get closer and closer to tryouts.