No. 5 Ralston Valley went on the road to advance to the Sweet 16 after beating No. 4 Fort Collins 44-43 in the second round of the state tournament Saturday at Fort Collins High School.

The Mustangs got 17 points from junior Andrew Wingard and Ralston Valley used gritty defense to hold off the higher ranked Lambkins.

Two nights earlier Ralston Valley beat Pine Creek 72-54 at home in its playoff opener.

The Mustangs (18-7, 11-5 in 5A Jeffco) will now play at top-ranked Mountain Vista on Wednesday.

D’Evelyn boys’ basketball survived a scare and then rolled its next opponent as they advanced to the Great 8.

After a first round bye the Jaguars outlasted Falcon 75-69 in the second round of the state tournament Friday at D’Evelyn High School.

One night later the Jaguars hammered Mead 69-46 in the Sweet 18 again in their building.

Senior Brian Smith broke out for a game-high 26 points and junior Grant Witherspoon added 22 points for D’Evelyn.  

The Jaguars (20-5, 13-1 in 4A Jeffco) will now face Sand Creek in the Great 8 Saturday at 12 p.m at the Denver Coliseum.

No. 3 Golden boys’ basketball was bounced out of the state tournament after its 72-56 loss to No. 6 Greeley Central in the second round of the state tournament Friday at Golden High School.

After earning a first round bye the Demons faced a Greeley Central team that can score in bunches. And the Wildcats did just that.

Down just two points going into the fourth quarter Golden’s defense disappeared and Greeley Central closed out the game with a 29-15 final quarter.

The Demons (19-5, 12-2 in 4A Jeffco) had three double-digit scorers, including Jevon Martinez’s 25 points.

Sophomore Ryan Blodgett led Golden with 16 points.