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Colorado basketball playoffs: Fossil Ridge-Fort Collins score, live … – Coloradoan
One of the most anticipated high school games in Fort Collins history has arrived.
No. 3 Fossil Ridge and No. 6 Fort Collins meet in the Class 6A boys basketball Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum Saturday afternoon at 1:15 p.m, with the winner advancing to next weekend’s Final 4.
It’s a rematch of a city classic on Jan. 31, as the Lambkins won in a 55-52 road upset.
The game can be streamed live on the NFHS Network’s CHSAA page, nfhsnetwork.com/associations/chsaa. A subscription is required to watch.
Follow along below for live insights, updates and takeaways from sports reporters Chris Abshire and Kevin Lytle.
Randall had a career high 31 points and was a perfect 13-13 from the field, a Colorado Player of the Year level performance for the Fossil Ridge senior star.
He outdueled Fort Collins big man Luke Wagstaff, who had 25 points and nine rebounds of his own.
“Nick Randall had an unbelievably good game,” said Fort Collins coach Bruce Dick.
Full story:Nick Randall, Fossil Ridge pull away from Fort Collins for city rivalry revenge in Great 8
The energy was crackling long before tip-off as two sets of rival fans sat waiting for the biggest high school boys basketball game in city history.
Fort Collins High School students heckled Fossil Ridge players as they took the court for warmups, then exploded in applause when the Lambkins hit the floor.
Fossil Ridge students carried signs with the hashtag #payback on them.
The north side of the Denver Coliseum was filled with fans who made the drive down south from Fort Collins for this monumental matchup, a Class 6A Great 8 showdown between rivals Fort Collins and Fossil Ridge.
Full column from Kevin Lytle:Rivalry game in Great 8 a showcase of exceptional Fort Collins basketball talent
Quick story:Nick Randall, Fossil Ridge pull away from Fort Collins for city rivalry revenge in Great 8
The SaberCats have their revenge.
Fossil Ridge pulled away late and controlled the second half behind Nick Randall’s 31-point night for a 14-point win over their city rivals.
It’s a second straight Final 4 appearance for Fossil, which finished as the 5A state runner-up last season.
Return to coloradoan.com/sports for more postgame coverage of this city rivalry game.
Colin Hayes just converted a three-point play at the line and Fossil Ridge is in command up 62-51 with 2:00 left in the 4th quarter.
Fossil Ridge keeps getting to the line in the second half and it’s paying off, while Nick Randall keeps controlling the paint.
It’s Fossil Ridge 57, Fort Collins 46 with 5:07 left in the game.
The SaberCats slowly stretched the lead throughout the third quarter, surviving a couple big Lambkins 3-pointers.
Fossil Ridge takes a 46-40 lead over Fort Collins into the final quarter.
Fossil Ridge leads 42-40 with 2:49 left in the 3rd quarter, and it’s been a thriller.
Nick Randall and Luke Wagstaff are the star big men for these teams and they’ve lived up to the billing.
Randall has been a bully inside with 18 points, nearly all of them at the rim. And Wagstaff has been a beast driving the ball while making a couple 3-pointers and has 16 points.
This has been every bit as advertised so far.
The teams and individual stars traded buckets plus the lead and it’s another tight game between these two teams.
It’s been a much crisper offensive matchup than their first meeting, which was a 55-52 game. Nick Randall leads Fossil Ridge with 12 points, while Luke Wagstaff has 11 to lead the Lambkins.
Keep an eye on foul trouble in the second half, as Randall and Fort Collins’ Jamar Mitchell have two each, while Fossil’s Colin Hayes has three.
The Lambkins fell behind by 4 points early in the second quarter but have bounced back in a big way with some transition buckets.
Jayce King completed a three-point play at the line on a fast-break bucket, and Fort Collins leads 24-22 with 3:30 left in the first half.
It was a back and forth opening quarter, with each team trading the lead back and forth.
Nick Randall led Fossil with 8 points, while Luke Wagstaff and Jamar Mitchell had 5 points each for the Lambkins.
It’s been intense already in the Coliseum, with the teams trading buckets and plenty of contested foul calls.
The SaberCats have a two-point lead with 3:07 left in the first quarter.
The previous games in the morning session ran long, which has pushed the start time for Fossil Ridge-Fort Collins to 1:40 p.m.
There are already about 1,000 fans combined between the two schools in the Denver Coliseum ahead of tip-off.
Fossil Ridge senior forward Matthew Boldt re-injured an ankle in last weekend’s Sweet 16 win over Doherty that had also caused him to miss the final six regular-season games.
According to SaberCats’ coach Matt Johannsen, Boldt will give it a go on the injured ankle but may be limited.
He is a key ingredient for this Fossil team as the second-leading scorer (9.6 points per game), and they missed his interior presence after he originally injured the ankle early in that Jan. 31 loss to the Lambkins.
The game is an unprecedented matchup in Fort Collins boys basketball history, as city rivals have never met this late in the playoffs.
The winner of the game will be just the eighth city boys team to reach a Final 4 in the last 50 years. No team from Fort Collins has won a boys state championship since Fort Collins High School in 1954.
More:There’s never been a city boys basketball game like Fort Collins-Fossil Ridge in the Great 8
Go: 1:15 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at the Denver Coliseum. Tickets are $12 for adults and $9 for students, seniors and children.
Watch: The game will be streamed live on the NFHS Network’s CHSAA page, nfhsnetwork.com/associations/chsaa. A subscription is required to watch.
Follow along: Coloradoan journalists Chris Abshire, Kevin Lytle and Lucas Boland will have live coverage here and on Twitter.
Coliseum city clash:What to know about Fossil Ridge-Fort Collins basketball in Great 8
