BY BRIAN ROTH

Ralston Valley 59
Green Mountain 50

Well, let's get this out of the way first.....if there was, or will be, a better atmosphere for high school basketball in the Metro area this winter, I will have to see it to believe it. All due respect to some of the great crowds we have already been lucky to be a part of (see Golden/D'Evelyn), but the spacious gymnasium at Green Mountain High School was filled to the rafters with high school hoops fans looking for a glimpse at two top-5 teams.

It was a Jeffco showdown with #3 and undefeated Green Mountain taking on 5th ranked Ralston Valley. And, in the end, the physical Mustangs proved to be too much for the Rams. How? Simple. Pierce Hornung. The CSU bound senior scored 27 points, hauled in just about any rebound that was near him, and had 3 huge blocks that sent the Mustang student section into multipule frenzies. (See next week's Plays of the Week here at www.ispn.tv) Yes, Hornung's numbers have been down this year. Yes, opposing teams are keying on the all-state player. And, yes, other Mustangs have stepped up in return (see: Gillach, Felton, and Heller.). But, for the "big games", the "big star" for Ralston is still "the Man". No one was more physcial than Hornung and his teamates responded to that. Ralston valley shot 23 more free-throws than did Green Mountain. The Rams had vurtually no inside game and were relagated to shooting beyond the arc.

So, what were our impressions of Green Mountain? We had them 3rd in our latest CET Sports 5A poll. The Rams are good....they are no fluke. Led by sharp shooter Brian Hunt and do it all guard Keigan Peterson (he shoots, he drives and yes, at 5'11", he can post-up), this is a Green Mountain team that has the talent to make a run to the Coors Events Center in March. And, oh yeah, they are very well coached. Not that that is a surprise to anyone who has followed coach Rudy Martin. Martin led the Columbine Rebels and guard Nick Mohr to a state championship back in 1997. The guy can coach.

Yes, the Jeffco has been down in recent years in the sport of basketball. But, they are back. And they provided basketball fans to one of the best atmospheres of the year on Wednesday night. As a high school basketball fan and broadcaster, I say, "Thank You."