The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

The second week of Season B was packed with action, both on the mats and on the hardwood. This weekend marks the midpoint of the campaign and despite the frigid temperatures outside, the push for the postseason is getting red-hot.

La Junta had a very busy week, dropping a tough dual with Florence, 42-33, last Thursday, and followed that up with a pair of wins against County Line and Crowley County in the County Line Tri on Saturday. The Tigers dominated County Line, 48-12, and eked out a 35-33 win over the Chargers.

Lamar also had a good week, earning victories over John Mall (48-21) on Tuesday, James Irwin (63-15) on Thursday, and both Alamosa (48-33) and Florence (60-18) on Saturday in the Alamosa Quad. The lone loss of the week for the Savages was to Pagosa Springs (42-21) in that Alamosa event.

For Burlington, Isaac Mantey secured a 42-36 victory over Goodland (KS) last Tuesday, by pinning his opponent at 2:52 of the match. The Cougars dropped a dual against top-ranked Wray (48-15) two days later.

Fort Morgan claimed wins in two of its three matches last Saturday at its own quad. The Mustangs downed Holy Family (51-24) and Greeley West (36-31), but fell to Thompson Valley (67-9).

Limon dropped three of four duals at the Yuma event on Saturday, falling to Akron, Sedgwick County/Fleming and Yuma. The lone win came against Merino, 27-24. Earlier in the week, the Badgers swept Holyoke 60-0 and pushed Strasburg, losing a 36-28 dual.

Turning to the basketball court, the Idalia ladies endured a tough week, following a 49-31 win over Flagler last Monday with losses to ranked foes Lone Star (50-30) on Tuesday and Wray (46-29) last Saturday. The Lady Wolves, who brought back most of last year's roster, are just 1-4 to begin the season. They have important games with Stratton/Liberty and Arickaree/Woodlin this week and must start piling up wins if they hope to make the postseason.

Kit Carson moved up to #2 in the polls last Monday and a 3-0 week did nothing to hurt the Lady Wildcats standing in the Class 1A field. They made a statement on Tuesday by downing Limon (59-44) and then added weekend wins over Cheraw (52-32) and Hi-Plains (57-24). The schedule starts to get a bit more difficult this week. Following a Tuesday game with ranked Simla, the Lady Wildcats have games on the weekend against Granada and Fleming.

Saturday saw a dandy of a contest between Rocky Ford and McClave and regulation wasn't enough time to decide the outcome. The Lady Meloneers enjoyed a slim 19-17 lead at the half, but needed to put together a late rally to force overtime. They would go on to secure the 56-48 victory in the bonus session. Abi Snyder posted a game-high 23 points and Lily Hancock added 11 points and 16 rebounds for Rocky Ford. Maggie Chase (17 points) and Anna Beckett (16 points) topped the Lady Cards.

Burlington and Limon hooked up on Saturday with the winner most likely securing the league championship. The Lady Badgers used a 16-8 fourth quarter to gain a 52-41 win, handing Burlington its first loss of the season. Trista Marx recorded 20 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and four blocks in the victory.

The Wiggins ladies also suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday, as Akron outscored them 17-8 in the fourth quarter. The 42-35 defeat dropped the Lady Tigers to 3-1 on the year.

Something was in the water that night, as the top-ranked team in Class 2A, Rye, had its perfect season ended as well. However, the Lady Thunderbolts nearly toppled 3A #1 Centauri in a slugfest, eventually falling 59-57. Jolee Ortiz led Rye with 22 points, while the Adamson twins, Sophie and Sydney, each had 11.

Fowler moved to 2-2 on the year, beating rival Swink 31-30. That win also put the Lady Grizzlies at 2-0 in league play, as they also beat Crowley County 41-20 earlier in the week.

In Class 3A, Lamar suffered a heart-breaking 49-41 loss to Colorado Springs Christian on Friday, dropping the Lady Savages to 3-1 on the season. They had only allowed a total of 40 points in their first three games. Lamar has another tough one on tap Thursday, as the Lady Savages host St. Mary's. Rival La Junta went through a 1-1 week, falling to Vanguard (89-28) and beating Banning Lewis (58-15).

Brush improved to 3-1 with a pair of wins last week. That included an impressive 62-56 decision over University last Wednesday. The Lady Diggers put three in double figures in that contest, with Kashlynn Tadolini posting a game-high 17 points.

Through two weeks of play, four of the Class 1A boys’ teams in the southeast portion of the state still have a zero in the loss column. Eads, Granada, Cheyenne Wells and Cheraw are all unbeaten heading into week three. That is guaranteed to change, as Eads hosted Granada on Tuesday and Cheyenne Wells visits Cheraw on Friday.

In the northeast corner, Merino will have to bounce back from a late loss to Holyoke last Saturday and it won't be easy for the Rams. They had a tough one on Tuesday against Fleming, followed by another challenge on Friday against Haxtun, who knocked off a top-five Briggsdale last week.

Limon continues to flex its muscles, as the top-ranked 2A team moved to 5-0 with wins over Kit Carson (69-32), Stratton/Liberty (83-20) and Burlington (64-13). The Badgers have outscored their first five opponents by a tally of 344-152. They can all but lock up the Union Pacific crown with a win over Byers on Friday.

Before that lopsided loss to Limon last Saturday, the Burlington Cougars earned their first win of the year against Akron on Thursday . Down 32-31 with 5.2 seconds to play, the Cougars put the ball in the hands of freshman Keziah Williams. Williams delivered the game-winner, drilling a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left.

Holly stayed perfect on the year with wins over Kim/Branson (62-54) and Rye (59-38). The Wildcats are one of the favorites in the Santa Fe, along with Fowler, who improved to 3-1 with wins over Crowley County (67-32) and Swink (62-22).

Through two weeks, Wiggins has a share of the LPAA lead. The 4-0 Tigers picked up wins over Caliche (52-36) and Akron (51-42) last week . They challenged a highly ranked Wray team on Tuesday, with the winner retaining a share of the league lead. The unbeaten Eagles entered the contest having scored 75, 83, and 89 points in their first three games.

3A Brush might be the cardiac program of the year. The Beetdiggers are 3-0, having outscored their opponents by a total of seven points. The latest heart-stopper came last Tuesday when they dropped University 59-57. Cesar Hinojos led all scorers with 25 points, and Tyler Barfuss added 21. Hinojos also pulled down 16 rebounds.

Lamar suffered two losses last week, dropping the Savages to 2-2, while La Junta split its games, and the Tigers are 1-3 entering this week. The last three games for Lamar have been decided by 10 points or less.

Fort Morgan has dropped three straight and now stands at 1-3 on the season. Two of those three losses have been by single digits, including a 72-65 defeat by Severance last Friday.