As a new year rolls in, D 49 basketball is in midseason form. With two months into the season, the teams are starting to show their true colors; and, with only one more month until the playoffs, many of the teams are still jockeying for a spot in the tournament.Check out the season so far.Boys basketballSand Creek High SchoolThe Sand Creek Scorpions started the new year with a game against Mullen High School (Denver). It was a hard-fought loss, as Mullen took the victory 79-72; this was Sand Creekís only loss in January. They then knocked off five wins in a row.In the Lewis-Palmer (Monument) and Sand Creek game, the Scorpions were down by 9 points at the end of the first half, but fought back in the second half to win, 58-55. In their next game against the Kadets of Air Academy (Colorado Springs), Sand Creek won handily, 65-53. Sophomore DíShawn Schwartz led the Scorpions, with 17 points. Two days later, Sand Creek hosted Discovery Canyon (Springs). Sand Creek blew them out with a 61-41 victory because of a Scorpions balanced attack, with seven players scoring at least 5 points. No one scored more than 11 points.The first district game took place Jan. 16, with a showdown between Falcon High School and Sand Creek. Scorpion senior Bryce Glaser had one of the best games of the season, picking up 25 points to lead the team to a 69-58 win over the Falcons. The last game before the NFH deadline took place Jan. 17 against Palmer Ridge (Monument). At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Scorpions were up by 9 points. Palmer Ridge came back too late, and Sand Creek won their fifth straight to improve to a 10-3 recordFalcon High SchoolThe Falcons started off the year with a stunning comeback against Pueblo South. At halftime, the Pueblo Colts had a 2-point lead, which stretched to 6 by the fourth quarter. The Falcons came roaring back, with 26 points in the final quarter, winning the game by 1 point. The Falcons then played D 49 rivals, Vista Ridge High School. Falcon won this low-scoring affair, 44-39, to keep the Wolves winless on the road. On Jan. 9, the Falcons dominated in the game against Palmer Ridge to win their fourth in a row, 54-38. Almost a week later, they played Lewis-Palmer, and their winning streak was snapped with a 14-point loss. After the Sand Creek loss, the Falcons rallied with a huge win against Cheyenne Mountain (Springs) ó 84-52. On Jan. 26, they had a tough 8-point loss against Air Academy in overtime, dropping their record to 8-7.Vista Ridge High SchoolVista Ridge had the most disappointing start to the new year, losing three out of their first four. In the first loss, Palmer Ridge beat the Wolves 54-47. The next game was against Falcon (mentioned above). On Jan. 9, they played Lewis-Palmer and lost by 5 points, 66-61. Finally, with almost a month since their last win, the Wolves played Cheyenne Mountain; ready for this game, they took home a win, 67-47. Two days later, the Vista Ridge team traveled to Air Academy to square off against the Kadets. Vista Ridge had not won a game away from home all season and that would not change in this one, with the Kadets over the Wolves, 51-40.Girls basketballSand CreekThe Sand Creek girls mimicked the boys by losing the first game of the new year, then rolling off five wins in a row. On Jan. 3, they played Pueblo East, and lost 60-54. The next game against Lewis-Palmer gave them the most dominant win of the year so far. The Scorpions dropped 87 points, while only allowing 27 in the blowout. They won a nail-biter Jan. 9 against Air Academy, 54-52. In their next game, Sand Creek demolished Discovery Canyon, 77-26. The Scorpions didnít have to score any points after the first quarter because 30 of their points came in the first quarter. They then played a game against Falcon, and won 54-41. They followed that up with a 73-58 win over Palmer Ridge, bringing them to a 9-3 record.Falcon High SchoolOn Jan. 5, the Falcon team played Pueblo South in an away game, and lost big time, 43-19. They bounced back with a huge win over Vista Ridge, 60-28. They followed that one with back-to back wins over Palmer Ridge and Lewis-Palmer, respectively. The final game before the NFH deadline was against Cheyenne Mountain, with a win that set them at a 7-6 record.Vista Ridge High SchoolAfter the loss to Falcon Jan. 7, the Vista Ridge girls team played Lewis-Palmer at home, and easily won, 54-43. But they had three consecutive losses against Cheyenne Mountain, Air Academy and Palmer Ridge. The team redeemed themselves Jan. 23, with a 49-27 win against Discovery Canyon.
