Quarter by quarter: Rye at Rocky Ford

Rye and Rocky Ford High School girls basketball entered their matchup both sitting at 18-0, two of only six teams in Colorado across all classifications, boys and girls, to still be undefeated. The winner would also be crowned as the Class 2A Santa Fe League champion once the dust settled in the Melon Dome. Eventually, the 3-point shooting of the Class 2A No. 4-ranked Thunderbolts, according to CHSAAnow.com's coaches/media poll, prevailed as they hit nine deep balls as a team and played strong defense in the second half to pick up the 54-38 win over No. 3 Rocky Ford and enter into the postseason undefeated at 19-0. <strong>First quarter: Rye 19, Rocky Ford 15</strong> [caption id="attachment_146646" align="alignright" width="252"] Rocky Ford's <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/abby-snyder/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/abby-snyder/">Abi Snyder</a></a>, left, cuts toward the basket after her teammate shot a 3-pointer against Rye.[/caption] Rocky Ford junior <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/abby-snyder/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/abby-snyder/">Abi Snyder</a></a> came out like a woman on a mission scoring eight points in the first frame, which is no surprise since she leads the Meloneers in points, rebounds, steals and assists per game. However, the seed was planted for Rye's strong shooting night with two 3-pointers made by Chloe Richardson and <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sophie-adamson/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sophie-adamson/">Sophie Adamson</a></a>. Then, a steal and bucket by Jolee Ortiz put Rye up 14-11 as they held onto that lead to end the first quarter. <strong>Second quarter: Rye 27, Rocky Ford 24</strong> Rocky Ford stayed tight with the help of junior Lily Hancock who put up six points in the frame thanks to a couple offensive rebounds. Sophie helped Rye maintain the lead though with another bucket and a couple free throws as defense prevailed on both sides to end the first half. <strong>Third quarter: Rye 42, Rocky Ford 30</strong> [caption id="attachment_146647" align="alignright" width="300"] Rye High School's <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sophie-adamson/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sophie-adamson/">Sophie Adamson</a></a> takes a shot against Rocky Ford.[/caption] What has made the Thunderbolts dangerous is their discipline and it showed in the best way during the third quarter when they ballooned their lead to 12. When the pass wasn't there, the Rye girls cut and were patient until they did get someone open, which often was <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sydney-adamson/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sydney-adamson/">Sydney Adamson</a></a> as she came to alive after having only three points in the first half. Rye hit three more 3-pointers in the third and kept Snyder to only one made 3-pointer and made improvements on the glass from Richardson. <strong>Final: Rye 54, Rocky Ford 38</strong> Ortiz played the dagger role in the fourth when she hit a wide-open 3-pointer to put Rye up 49-36, forcing a timeout with less than three minutes to go from Rocky Ford. Following the timeout, Ortiz picked up a steal, passed the ball to Sydney who then finished at the bucket and made the free throw on the and-one play. [caption id="attachment_146648" align="alignleft" width="300"] Rye High School's Jolee Ortiz, right, drives to the hoop while being defended by Rocky Ford's <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/abby-snyder/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/abby-snyder/">Abi Snyder</a></a>.[/caption] Sophie led the way on offense with 16 points, but Sydney and Ortiz were right behind at 15 and 13 points, respectively. Snyder had only four points in the second half to finish with 14 while Hancock picked up 10 for the Meloneers, who suffered their first loss of the season. The two squads will be the top two seeds heading into the District 6 tournament next weekend, hosted at La Junta High School.