NoCo Nine: Fossil Ridge, Rocky Mountain trade key wins across sports to lead week's best

A little inclement weather couldn't (totally) stop the high school sports action around Fort Collins last week.

Even with snow, sleet and soggy conditions from Thursday on, there were still plenty of highlights on the prep scene.

It was an especially big week for Fossil Ridge and Rocky Mountain across the local landscape, with the teams trading key results and wins in girls soccer, tennis, baseball and onto the track.

Here are the notable happenings from Fort Collins-area high school sports over the past week:

Note: If you have nominations for future NoCo Nine editions, please send them via email to ChrisAbshire@coloradoan.com for consideration.

SaberCats tame Lambkins in marquee city baseball rivalry

It was a massive city showdown, with No. 1 Fossil Ridge hosting No. 5 Fort Collins on the diamond in the city's first-ever top-5 matchup in the MaxPreps Era.

On a windy day, the SaberCats dominated from the start, scoring three runs in the opening inning and cruising to a 5-1 win behind Easton Miller's complete-game, 11-strikeout performance.

Fossil Ridge (11-1) has the early inside track for the city title, which would be a first in program history.

PSD boys lacrosse extends winning streak

The Poudre School District boys lacrosse team is hitting its stride, extending its win streak to five games with a pair of wins last week.

The Stars took down Lakewood (8-1) and Columbine (9-5), with the latter a hard-fought win on a chilly, snowy evening.

Colton Pawlak scored hat tricks with three goals in each match, but the defense has buoyed PSD lately, allowing just five goals per game during the win streak.

Fossil Ridge, Rocky Mountain dominate doubles at FRL tennis championships

The Front Range League girls tennis championships were fruitful for our local squads, especially in doubles. Fossil Ridge took first place with 60 points, while Rocky Mountain was third with 51.

Fossil's No. 1 doubles duo of Abby Seager and Afton Sidwell beat Rocky's sister pairing of Nora and Lucia Johnson in the finals. Libby Sollenberger and Bela Lorey won the No. 3 doubles line for the SaberCats, also defeating a Rocky duo.

Rocky Mountain's Mia Benz and Izzy Kinder (No. 2 doubles) plus Neena Wittemyer and Isabella Poduska (No. 4 doubles) also won their lines, giving the city a clean sweep in doubles.

Major changes for Fort Collins hoops

It's not a "best of" item, but this was still notable in the high school sports space.

Both Bruce Dick and Kerstin Young are out as Fort Collins High School boys and girls basketball head coaches, respectively, school officials confirmed last week.

Dick and Young had each finished their third seasons at the helm for the Lambkins, both making the playoffs all three years. Both jobs are expected to be posted this week as Fort Collins looks for new hoops coaches.

Lobos walk Loveland off on diamond

Even though the Lobos' first city rivalry game of the season was postponed due to the wet weather late last week, they still produced a highlight.

Rocky Mountain's Lennon Hoffman Proctor hit a walk-off RBI single in the 7th inning to beat local foe Loveland, 6-5.

It was a tight game with several lead changes, and neither team ever ended the inning with more than a one-run lead. Wrigley Cox and Cole Honick were key in relief, combining for four scoreless innings.

Now it's a busy week for Rocky, with doubleheaders on Monday and Tuesday in addition to games vs. Horizon and Broomfield.

Fossil Ridge formidable again at Huskie Twilight

It was a slower week on the track given the weather, but that didn't stop Fossil Ridge at the Huskie Twilight in Parker.

The girls team won the team title, while the boys took runner-up honors.

Marcus Mozer won the boys 100-meter dash (11.20 seconds) in his only race. The SaberCats' 4x200 girls relay squad won a thriller by .02 seconds over ThunderRidge, finishing in 1:47.69.

Fossil also swept runner-up honors in the boys and girls 300 hurdles, with Ryan Lautzenhiser (42.69) and Sophia Harding (49.00) each taking second. Erin Herrmann also took silver in the girls shot put.

The SaberCats also had four track and field athletes sign to college programs last week:

• Trevor Bode - Vanguard University

• Alaire Serell - Creighton

• Oliver Sehr - Colorado School of Mines

• Ryan Lautzenhiser - Knox College (swimming and football)

SaberCats overcome red card to beat city rivals

The top city showdown of the girls season didn't disappoint, with Fossil Ridge eking out a tough 3-2 road win at Rocky Mountain.

The SaberCats were a player down the entire second half (red card) but prevailed after some second-half fireworks on a late game-winning goal from star Abby Ballek. Lily Wale scored twice to keep Fossil in with a chance for a late winner.

Fossil now sits at No. 3 in CHSAA's Class 5A seeding index and has won 10 straight matches vs. city competition.

Two local squads hosting team tennis duals

Speaking of tennis, CHSAA released the brackets for the state team tournaments and two city teams are hosting.

Rocky Mountain earned a No. 4 seed in Class 5A and will host No. 13 Arapahoe in the first round of the 16-team bracket. Fossil Ridge is the No. 6 seed and will welcome No. 13 Denver East. The first-round matches are Wednesday.

Fort Collins also made the 5A field as the No. 14 seed and will travel to No. 3 Valor Christian. Timnath made the 3A bracket as the 15th seed and will face No. 2 Vail Christian.

The team tournament is a separate event from the individual state championships, which will be held May 9-11.

Games of the week (April 22-27)

• Boys city swim championships, at EPIC (Tuesday, 3:30 p.m.)

• Timnath at Liberty Common girls soccer (Tuesday, 6 p.m.)

• Rocky Mountain, Fossil Ridge hosting girls tennis first-round team duals (Wednesday, 4 p.m.)

• Fossil Ridge at Fort Collins girls soccer (Thursday, 6 p.m.)

• Stutler Twilight track and field, at Cherry Creek (Saturday, 9 a.m.)

• Fort Collins at Poudre girls soccer (Saturday, 10 a.m.)

• PSD girls lacrosse at Evergreen (Saturday, 11 a.m.)

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: NoCo Nine: Best of Fort Collins-area prep sports for April 14-20