Mike’s Blog Round-up

FORT COLLINS — UC Riverside’s Barrington Hargress hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime, and the Highlanders then outscored Colorado State 12-10 in the extra period to win 77-75 and hand the Rams their second loss in a row Friday night at Moby Arena. Jalen Lake made what appeared to be the game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds left, but Hargress’s heave at halfcourt denied the home fans the chance to celebrate.

MONUMENT — The last time that Broomfield football made the trip down to Don Breese Stadium for the Class 4A state playoffs, the Eagles left battered, bruised and defeated by Palmer Ridge. On Friday night under the same bright lights, a year later, the fifth-seeded Eagles played heartbreaker in their 32-23 win over the No.

Class 5A No. 1 Cherry Creek beat No. 9 Erie, 34-14: Junior RB Jayden Fox ripped off touchdown runs of 70 and 35 yards, freshman Elijah Cromwell tacked on a 64-yard scoring run, and Cherry Creek (11-1) clinched its seventh straight trip to the 5A semifinals with a dominant defensive performance at Stutler Bowl.

Nikola Jokic has returned to the Nuggets’ lineup after welcoming a newborn son this week with his wife, Natalija, a source told The Denver Post. Jokic, 29, didn’t travel with the team for its recent three-game road trip, staying in Denver to tend to his family while his wife was expecting.

The Rockies shook up their roster and continued their youth movement Friday when they non-tendered Gold Glove second baseman Brendan Rodgers and right-handed starter Cal Quantrill. The moves cut the club’s payroll for the 2025 season and cleared a path for young prospects, such as second baseman Adael Amador and a crop of young starters who could make their big-league debuts in 2025. “We appreciate both guys and their efforts, but tough decisions had to be made,” general manager Bill Schmidt said.

No team has won more games or collected more points than the Boston Bruins since the day they hired Jim Montgomery as their head coach. And yet the national championship-winning coach at the University of Denver is no longer employed by the Bruins after being fired Tuesday. If we’re curating a collection of the biggest disappointments from the first quarter of the 2024-25 NHL season, the Bruins, and the dismissal of Montgomery, are an easy choice to top the list. One thing that shouldn’t be a surprise in the NHL is the general level of inertia.