Denver Post staff writer Jon E. Yunt takes a look ahead at the action in high school sports:
BASKETBALL
Get your kicks
Regis girls coach Carl Mattei’s dream becomes a reality Friday night, when his “Shoes for South African Children” program will be taken to each of the 12 Continental League school sites. Fans attending the boys and girls games are asked to donate a pair of athletic shoes that Mattei, whose collection already is bubbling over, will ship by mid-February in hopes of arrival before the start of the basketball season there in March.
Mattei’s tour of South Africa last fall — as an Adidas All-Star Camp coach — opened his eyes to the charitable need. One he hopes Coloradans can fill.
Saints are rollin’
As good a story as the boys program is at Jefferson, the girls program also deserves props. At 13-3, the Saints have reached uncharted territory in terms of wins. It had been more than a decade since they won more than 10 games in a season. Tonight against winless Abraham Lincoln, they can run their record to 14-3. The Saints ran the table against the Class 3A Frontier League’s Western Division the first time around and will have a chance to go to 6-0 on Tuesday at home against Middle Park.
WRESTLING
Thunderous applause
Nick Adams carried the flag for first-year Discovery Canyon at last year’s state tournament, going 31-3 en route to a Class 2A 112-pound title. The Thunder sophomore and the now 3A Discovery Canyon (located in Colorado Springs) will host their inaugural tournament Saturday. Brighton, Abraham Lincoln, Widefield, Green Mountain and Thomas Jefferson also serve as tournament sites this weekend.
