Key players won’t be there for a couple of heavyweights

The landscape of Colorado girls basketball, already changed considerably with the season being delayed until Monday, got a little rockier in recent days. Regis Jesuit lost a couple of high-end players as did Valor Christian. And two of them are ranked No. 2 in the top two classes by PrepGirlsHoops.com. Avery Van Sickle, a Washington signee and the No. 2 player in the Class of 2021, opted out of Regis Jesuit’s season following further complications from surgery and Valor Christian’s [player_tooltip player_id="95168" first="Raegan" last="Beers"] of Valor Christian, second-rated in the Class of 2022, remains sidelined from an earlier injury. Van Sickle was coming off surgery to remove a bone spur from a knee, but is having trouble with a patella tendon, according to Raiders head coach Carl Mattei. “She had surgery in November and now it’s affecting how the tendon slides up and down,” the coach said. “She had two surgeons look at it. Now, it’s tender. The surgeon said they’ll look at it again in three-to-four weeks.” Before signing with Washington, Van Sickle had other serious interest from the likes of Texas, Duke and Iowa State. A year ago, she averaged 16.5 points, second on the team. She also shot 39 percent from 3-point range. The Raiders in Aurora also have lost another Division I athlete, Gracie Weigand, who signed to play lacrosse at Notre Dame. Weigand, an All-American, tore an anterior-cruciate ligament in the past season’s quarterfinals and elected not to play for fear of re-injuring it. Mattei added that both players indicated the switch to a 14-game regular season, down from the ordinary 23, was a factor in their decisions. As a result, Mattei said his team will be led by the versatile [player_tooltip player_id="116818" first="Samantha" last="Jones"] (2021), but filled out by virtually all underclassmen. As for Valor Christian in Highlands Ranch, the past season’s semifinalist certainly will miss Beers’ inside play that resulted in 15.5 points and 10.1 rebounds as a sophomore. She tore an ACL in the spring and will bear watching after her recovery as she displayed the ability to play both inside and outside, as well as mobility for a 6-foot-2 player. However, the Eagles also have [player_tooltip player_id="95124" first="Kindyll" last="Wetta"] (signed with Colorado), the move-in Huard sisters (Haley, 2021, and Macey, 2023) and [player_tooltip player_id="95129" first="Jenna" last="Siebert"] (2021).