Arapahoe coach Jerry Knafelc had a message for his girls basketball team after an easy win over Fossil Ridge on Jan. 11.

The Warriors, fourth in the Jan. 10 CHSAANow.com Class 5A rankings, raced to an early lead, which paved the way for a 59-46 non-league victory in the game played in the Arapahoe gym.

“It wasn’t perfect but what game is?” said Knafelc. “We’ve got to get better. That was most of our conversation in the locker room. It was a nice win. It was a win but there are a lot of things we can do better.”

He mentioned individual play on defense, off side on defense, rebounding, finishing shots, taking appropriate shots and throwing good passes.

“There were bits and pieces against Fossil Ridge,” Knafelc added. “Whatever the score ends up being, as long as we play our best. Whatever the score is, if we play our best basketball and we win, great. If we play our best basketball, we could lose to somebody. You played your best basketball and that other team just happened to be better.”

Arapahoe was better, especially early in the game. The Warriors led 32-13 at halftime and went on a 12-1 run to start the third quarter to grab a 30-point lead with 3:54 left in the quarter.

Fossil Ridge trimmed the Warriors lead to 10 points at 53-43 with 2:13 left in the game but a 6-3 spree by Arapahoe curtailed any comeback for the visitors from Fort Collins.

Sydney White, a junior guard, led the way for Arapahoe with 22 points, which included six three-point baskets.

White was six-for-eight from three-point range, had five rebounds, five assists and a steal.

“Sydney White played really well,” said Knafelc. “She’s kind of a three-level scorer. She can score inside, she can score mid-range and she can score from outside.

“We have a player each night that goes off like that. That’s a good problem we have.”

One of those players is 6-foot-2 center Sam Crispe, who was saddled with foul trouble against Fossil Ridge but still managed to score 15 points.

Crispe, who will play at Boston University next season, had four rebounds and two assists.

Arapahoe, 8-3 after the Fossil Ridge victory, had a Centennial League game against Cherokee Trail on Jan. 15. Fossil Ridge saw its record dip to 4-4.