Post season basketball prospects improved for the Rye High School Boys’ basketball team with three wins in four contests in a busy week last week.
Rye downed Swallows Charter Academy 53-43 at home on January 31. Camden Steele scored 14 points, had three assists and blocked one shot in the victory. Dillon Robertshaw added 11 points and Chance Donlon had six rebounds and four steals. Branden Benz had five boards and Codah Graber had a pair of assists. Rye shot 38% from the field and 57% from the free throw line.
“I felt like we got back to sharing the ball and playing for each other,” shared Head Coach Dakota Stupar. “That is when we are at our best as a team.”
Rye was again the host on February 1 when the Hoehne Farmers came to town. Rye built an 18-7 first quarter lead into a 57-35 victory in a game that was moved to earlier in the day to beat the snowstorm to town.
Branden Benz had 17 points, five rebounds, six assists, and three steals for the T-Bolts. Donlan scored 15 points and had five steals. Jay Graham had nine rebounds and four assists and Brendan Gray had five rebounds.
Rye shot 42% from the field and 73% from the line.
“We made 20 shots in the game,” assessed Stupar. Ninety percent of those were made on an assist. One of our best games ever sharing the basketball.”
It was a good week. Went 3-1 on the week.
On Friday, Rye hosted Fowler. The game was very tight in the opening quarters with Rye behind by two at the end of the first quarter and up by a single point at halftime. In the third quarter Rye won the quarter by 6 points and added another five-point margin to win the game 44-32 for their 3rd straight league win of the week.
Steele had 17 points, six rebounds, and a solid five blocked shots. Benz had nine points, and seven rebounds. Graber had half a dozen rebounds and Graham had four assists and two steals. Donlon had three assists and two steals.
Stupar said the team played some really good basketball during the Fowler game. “We shot the ball well, played great defense, and did not turn the ball over. It was senior night and it was the first time our seniors had beaten Fowler in basketball in their careers. So, it was a special night for the team.”
The lone blemish on the week came in a non-league home game on Saturday. Manitou Springs downed the locals by the score of 76-47.
“Manitou made 14 three pointers,” mentioned Stupar. “That was ten over their average. It was one of those nights for them.”
Benz led the Rye scoring with 15 points. Donlon added nine points. Graber had seven rebounds and Steele had four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Graham had five assists. “To get to the playoffs we are just taking it one game at a time.” Summarized Stupar. “We have three tough league games all on the road. We need to win our remaining three games. If we do so we may even get a chance to host a game.”
Tuesday after press time Rye traveled to Hoehne. Tonight (Thursday) they will play in Swink and next Tuesday in Rocky Ford.
The Thunderbolts are 11-5 for the season and 6-3 in the Santa Fe League which puts them in fourth place. In 2A they are currently rated #19 by Max Preps.