This next Senior Season segment will highlight our boys basketball Sabercats for the graduating class of 2024. In between the 2022-23 season and the 2023-24 season, the boy’s basketball team for Fossil Ridge High School lost ten seniors to graduation, leading there to be a complete roster change, but this did not stop the Sabercats from making the playoffs and will go against Cherry Creek in an away game tomorrow at 6 p.m. for the first round. Enjoy reading about this next set of seniors and be ready for the next sport coming soon. Up fifth… basketball!
After playing on all four boys basketball teams for Fossil Ridge High School and climbing the ranks, Eli Nutting has scored himself a place on Varsity. Not only has he put his name on the roster but has risen to be one of the best players on the team, scoring an average of thirteen points and seven rebounds per game. Nutting started playing basketball for “as long as I can remember” and began competitive basketball in middle school. Growing up he always found himself gravitating to sports and tried out soccer and football along the way but eventually basketball is what stuck. Nutting was drawn towards the community built throughout the team and the competitive nature that the Sabercats bring to every practice and game. The majority of players on the team were able to practice together on a club team over the summer, allowing time to form a close team since the majority of the roster graduated in the 2023 year. “We’re all a new team pretty much… so there’s really no expectation for us except what we put on ourselves,” Nutting explains. He has been communicating with coaches about continuing in college next year yet it is not set in stone whether he will continue or not. Both his freshman and sophomore year he was awarded the title of Most Valuable Player and after his record, there is a great chance he can continue the tradition to a third year.
Ever since fourth grade Sean Purvis has been dribbling the ball down the court. He got his first chance at Varsity last year and has been continuing the streak since, gaining the title of most steals on the team, averaging two per game. The spark originally started when he would watch the National Basketball Association with his dad, and he enjoyed watching it so much that he decided to put on the jersey and become the player behind the silver screen. He now has the title of Colorado 3-point Champion under his belt in years 2021 and 2022. Purvis enjoys playing with the team this year, and believes in their ability to rank high in the state, “We are pretty good this year too, easily a top ten team in the state,” Purvis affirms. That belief will now be put to the test tomorrow as Fossil faces the Bruins in the playoffs. His favorite part about the sport is winning and the competitiveness he faces during a game. “My favorite memory is getting my first 360 windmill dunk… in overtime to win the game a few years ago,” Purvis says. He does not have any plans on continuing his basketball career, but there is still a possibility that could still change.
