Five Takeaways: Holy Family at Frederick
Friday night’s game between No. 3-ranked Holy Family and Frederick wasn’t just the first game of the 2019 calendar year and the 4A Tri-Valley League season opener for both teams. It featured a pair of teams that have been building,…
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Continue ReadingFriday night’s game between No. 3-ranked Holy Family and Frederick wasn’t just the first game of the 2019 calendar year and the 4A Tri-Valley League season opener for both teams. It featured a pair of teams that have been building, albeit on different trajectories, towards the 2018-19 season. Holy Family won the game easily, 73-31, but let’s look at a few things that were apparent during the contest.
Holy Family could break through this winter
While many teams would consider simply a successful season a breakthrough, success can be relative and the Holy Family boys basketball program has been butting its collective head against one barrier in particular for several years. The Tigers won the Class 3A state championship in 2014 and after moving up to 4A the following season, they have reached the Sweet 16 in three consecutive campaigns and lost in the second round of last year’s state tournament.
That’s a pretty impressive run over more than half a decade but falling just short of the state quarterfinals has been a tough pill for the Tigers to swallow. For several years, the Tigers have been building around the one-two punch of four-year varsity starters Tanner Baird and Kyle Helbig. This year’s team is senior-heavy, deep and has a dangerous combination of skill, athleticism and size. The Tigers have only lost to 4A No. 1 Lewis-Palmer and 4A No. 6 Pueblo West, and are looking like 2019 could be the year they make it past the Sweet 16.
Much-anticipated turnaround has arrived at Frederick
The Frederick Warriors went 1-22 in 2017-18, but lost seven games by six points or fewer including three overtime losses. Already boasting a 5-3 record after losing to the No. 3-ranked Tigers, the Warriors are off to their best start since beginning the 2013-14 season with a 5-3 record. The Warriors clearly didn’t have their best game while losing by 42 points on Friday night and it remains to be seen how they will fare in what figures to be a much-improved Tri-Valley League. But it sure seems like Frederick has what it takes to get back into the double-digit wins category.
Up-and-comers pacing Frederick offense
This year’s Frederick boys basketball team is averaging 68.6 points per game and is doing it with four different players scoring in double figures. Here’s the kicker: not a single one of the four is a senior. Jake Green (Jr., 17.0 ppg), Davis Richard (Jr., 13.7), Joe Cartelli (Jr., 13.0) and Isayah Elize (So., 12.1) give the Warriors a balanced offensive attack that few teams can claim.
Adam Jolly’s stock could be rising
Baird and Helbig, the latter of whom will play football at CSU, garner most of the headlines for Holy Family and deservedly so. Fellow Tigers senior Adam Jolly, however, has had his moments and appears to be developing into a late-blooming prospect as a senior. How’s this for a stat line: 10.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 70-percent shooting from the field. Jolly is also listed at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, and matches his size with a fluid athleticism and feel for the game that could be of use to a Division-III collegiate program. Against Frederick on Friday, he was 8 for 10 from the field and led all scorers with 19 points without turning the ball over once.
Tri-Valley will be tougher this season
For perspective, Frederick was the worst team in the Tri-Valley League last season and did not win a single conference game. Already in 2018-19, the Warriors have won five games. Holy Family and Mead are ranked Nos. 3 and 10, respectively. Five of the nine TVL teams are currently at .500 or better and Erie (6-3) is the 11th team in the Class 4A RPI standings. Skyline (4-4) upset eventual 4A champion Longmont at the end of last winter’s regular season and looks like a better, more balanced team so far in 2018-19. It may not be an early favorite to produce a state champion but it seems like the Tri-Valley League will have a much tighter grouping of teams in its top half and there will be fewer easy games for the top teams in the conference this winter.