Six standouts from Wednesday evening

<p>Wednesday’s slate of games had multiple players set new team and career-highs across the board. Players found a groove and did not look back from there. Here are six players that caught my eye on the evening. </p> <h2><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="916980" first="Tristan" last="Smith"] – Elizabeth</strong></h2> <p>Smith had the high-score on the entire day and outscored some teams singlehandedly. He had a game-high 45-points, and the Cardinals needed EVERY single basket as they got a 78-77 overtime win over Falcon. Elizabeth understands who their best player and top scorer is and made sure to get him to spots that he liked. Smith took 30 field goal attempts and was confident in every shot that he took. Smith knocked down six 3-pointers in the game, got to the FT line, and recorded a double-double as he had 11 rebounds. Smith is a player we were high on heading into the season, and with how he has played thus far, with good reasoning. Stellar performance for the 6’4 senior wing.</p> <h2><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1138358" first="Josh" last="Duran"] – Antonito</strong></h2> <p>Senior guard, [player_tooltip player_id="1138358" first="Josh" last="Duran"] is a player that has stood out throughout his time in high school. On the season, he is having one of Colorado’s best stat lines, and on Wednesday, it was all on full display as he has a balanced line. Duran put up a game-high 32 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and also seven steals. He was productive and all over the court. Duran has proved himself as one of the best players in the class and will surely be on our newest rankings list with these kinds of performances.</p> <h2><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1050938" first="Noah" last="Ragsdale"] – Lewis-Palmer</strong></h2> <p>Ragsdale is one of those players capable of changing the entire game if he gets into a zone. He is a player that is always under control, can create for himself, and has the takeover ability. Ragsdale is a small guard with confidence that can break a defender down as well as play off of the ball and get his shots up. In the Rangers game against Palmer Ridge, he got himself going offensively. He had 18-points in the game as he hit two 3-pointers, got to the Ft line, and was in his most aggressive state. When he gets himself going, with the players that he has surrounding him, he is quite a player to watch and makes that team that much more dangerous. Lewis-Palmer is putting it all together at the right time.</p> <h2><strong>Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola – Sierra</strong></h2> <p>Amari almost outscored Mitchell by himself. His Stallions won 71-39, and he finished with a game-high 32 points in the game. Amari is one of the most underrated juniors in the state that not many are talking about, and the 6’3 is having a spectacular year. He is averaging 20.8 points and 8.7 rebounds on the season, and with his offense coming so easy, he did not have to get it going on the boards. He had four steals in the game, turned that into offense, and could not be denied. Sierra is a team that does not get talked about much but has some players who can play at the next level.</p> <h2><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="759274" first="Tayt" last="Chacon"] – University</strong></h2> <p>It is about time that we have saw the [player_tooltip player_id="759274" first="Tayt" last="Chacon"] that we’ve grown accustomed to. Chacon is one of the better players in the 2022 class that has had a rocky start to the year but certainly has explosive games inside of him. When he is going, there are not many players in the state that can slow him down and even less in the conference. In University’s drubbing over Eaton, the junior wing took over. Chacon finished with a game-high 33 points in the game, and most of that was done on the interior. He attacks the rim, forces the double team, and often times scores through that. Chacon has to try and build on a big performance and get the Bulldogs back to winning.</p> <h2><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="968823" first="Silas" last="McCurnin"] – Poudre</strong></h2> <p>McCurnin had one of the most balanced stat lines on anyone on the night and exploded in the scoring department. Poudre got a big-time win over Broomfield to move to 4-7 on the season but are trending in the right direction. The Impalas are a young team that is trying to figure it out but are led by a standout sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="968823" first="Silas" last="McCurnin"]. McCurnin erupted for 34-points on the night, a new career-high as he was on fire from deep. McCurnin hit 10 3-pointers in the game, was not run off of the line, and let it fly. When Broomfield defenders tried to take that away from him, he got others involved as he finished with five assists in the game and also grabbed six rebounds. McCurnin is having another solid season, and when he is on like that, Poudre will beat plenty of teams in the state. Great performance and solid team win led by their sophomore.</p>