Fossil Ridge stifles Rocky Mountain to continue turnaround

One small positive play after another quickly paints a picture of something special.

As the clock ticked, it became more obvious — the change taking place.

The Fossil Ridge High School boys basketball team was doing something almost unheard of in an evenly matched Class 5A game.

The SaberCats pitched a third-quarter shutout in the hostile environment of Rocky Mountain’s home gym Tuesday night and it flipped the game around.

Fossil Ridge turned a six-point halftime deficit into a 47-37 win, all led by holding the Lobos without points for the first 9 minutes, 20 seconds of the second half.

“It really helped our energy come up as a team,” said Garrett Ripsam, who scored eight points to go with great defense in helping hold Rocky Mountain star Joe Urynowicz to eight points. “We just built on that, kept getting stops and it really helped us.”

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A big turnaround is the theme of the game and the season for the SaberCats.

Fossil Ridge turned over almost its whole roster from last season’s 15-win team.

There were plenty of growing pains early as the SaberCats went 3-7 in nonconference play.

But the SaberCats have found something at the start of Front Range League play.

Tuesday’s win makes them 4-0 in the FRL (7-7 overall) with all four wins in road gyms.

“A lot of it is just effort and wanting to be there. We want to win those games, we want to work really hard,” said Brandon Lambrecht, who led Fossil Ridge with 14 points. “Early on we had moments we would be doing great, but we would struggle to play well consistently. We’re starting to see that change as the season goes on.”

Fossil Ridge has found consistency and is riding depth. Eleven players scored Tuesday, which is typical of this year’s team and the formula that will be used as the SaberCats try to make a run in the wide-open FRL.

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Rocky Mountain (6-7, 3-1 FRL) has had a similar turnaround. The Lobos started the season 0-5 but were perfect in league play until Tuesday.

For the first half, things were going as planned. The Lobos had a lead and were defending well. They just couldn’t overcome the long drought.

Rocky Mountain didn’t reach double-digit second-half points until less than 20 seconds left in the game when the outcome was decided. Joe Elliott led all scorers with 19 in addition to the eight from Urynowicz and six from Tyler Fisher.

Both teams still are in the mix for the league title.

The SaberCats went screaming in excitement into the postgame locker room; it’s safe to say they’re enjoying the turnaround.

“It’s so much better,” Lambrecht said. “It’s a completely opposite feeling. Momentum helps so much just to win a couple games in a row.”

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle at twitter.com/Kevin_Lytle and at facebook.com/KevinSLytle.

FOSSIL RIDGE 47, ROCKY MOUNTAIN 37

Fossil Ridge 9 8 11 19 — 47

Rocky Mountain 8 15 0 14 — 37

Fossil Ridge (7-7, 4-0) — Lambrecht 14, Ripsam 8, Cornmesser 5, Marley 5, Osius 3, Whittall 3, Croft 2, Bodnar 2, Ellis 2, Kawcak 2, Henderson 1.

Rocky Mountain (6-7, 3-1) — Elliott 19, Urynowicz 8, Fisher 6, Heinze 2, Schroeder 2.