The Fossil Ridge High School boys’ basketball team is showing its followers how good of a team they are, and the potential they have. The team is ranked first in the state and they are off to an 11-0 start, with seven wins coming at home and four wins coming on the road. Thus far, their closest game has come against Eaglecrest, the number four ranked team in Colorado, in a 58-51 victory. Excluding the Eaglecrest game, every win has been by double digits with the next closest game coming against Fort Collins in a 16 point victory.
“A big reason why the team is having a lot of success this season is because of our great depth and experience,” Evan Smith stated. FRHS boasts a starting lineup of all seniors, with four more seniors and two juniors coming off the bench. They have all been playing with each other for at least three seasons and because of this, “Our chemistry that we have built throughout our high school careers is having a big impact on the fluidity of the team,” Smith stated.
They are averaging an incredible 68.5 points per game with senior Brandon Bodnar, the leading scorer, averaging 12.2 points per game. The team as a whole is making over half of its shots, with a 51 percent field goal percentage. Alex Semadeni is averaging 12.1 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game.
The team has scored a combined 754 points to this point in the season while only allowing their opponents a combined 406 points, or 36.9 points per game.
Smith also stated, “Another reason we are successful this year is due to the huge support that we receive.” The gym was at a near capacity crowd during the in-city rival game against Fort Collins on Jan 14. “Our student section is always rocking and the parent section also gets into the game too,” fan Kevin Fargo said. The parent section often shouts, “Fossil” while the student section shouts, “Ridge”. The students have many chants such as the “I believe we will win” and “this is our house” chant. “I think one of the best aspects of going to the games is all of the creative chants we do,” Fargo said.
The student body has also has created a fan group called the Ridge White Squad; a group composed of juniors created by Mitchell Simmons, who attend almost every game. Fargo also stated that, “The way we look at it, we are all the biggest fans. We are more like siblings and we are just cheering on our brothers.”
FRHS has an upcoming away game against Loveland High School on Friday, January 17 at 6:30 p.m. The next home game is against Legacy High School on January 23 at 6:30 p.m.
