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Preps Feb. 2: Rough day for basketball, while swimming fifth in conference meet

Aspen High School's Lexi Ferlisi, left, tries to keep hold of the basketball against Moffat County's Quinn Pinnt on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, inside the AHS gymnasium. (Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times).
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

A hot shooting start and strong inside defense helped carry the Moffat County High School boys basketball team over host Aspen on Saturday, a 58-44 win for the visitors inside the AHS gymnasium.

The Bulldogs led 20-12 after a quarter thanks to a trio of 3-pointers in the first eight minutes. Aspen closed to within four points at 22-18 early in the second quarter, but Moffat answered with a 10-0 run to lead 32-18. The score was 34-22 at halftime; a pair of late buckets by Aspen’s Noah Hollander negated some of the damage.

Moffat County’s lead reached as much as 21 points late in the third quarter at 48-27. It was 49-31 after three quarters. The Skiers did outscore the Bulldogs over the final eight minutes, getting as close as 12 points with about five minutes to play before the visitors put a stop to any rally.



The win improved Moffat’s record to 5-11 overall, and 3-4 in 3A Western Slope League play. Aspen now is 4-11 overall and 0-5 in league play.

Prior to the boys’ game, the Moffat County girls made easy work of Aspen, winning 47-13. The Bulldogs led 27-5 at halftime.




The Moffat girls, who are ranked No. 10 in 3A this week by CHSAANow.com, improved to 12-4 overall and 6-1 in WSL play. Aspen fell to 4-10 and 1-4.

Both AHS boys and girls are scheduled to next play Tuesday at home against Cedaredge. They will then host Coal Ridge on Friday in what will be recognized as senior night. The final home game is actually Saturday against Delta, with the regular-season finale being Feb. 14 at Basalt.

Grand Valley basketball takes down both Basalt teams on Saturday

The Basalt High School basketball teams lost a pair of games to visiting Grand Valley on Saturday.

The BHS boys lost 65-44, with senior Trevor Reuss leading the team with 13 points. Jackson Rapaport added 12 and Jake Reardon 10.

The fourth straight loss dropped the Basalt boys to 3-14 overall and 1-6 in 3A Western Slope League play.

The Basalt girls basketball team lost 51-30 on Saturday to Grand Valley, a day after stunning Roaring Fork in Carbondale on Friday. The loss snapped a two-game win streak for the now 3-14 Longhorns. They are 1-6 in WSL play.

Both Basalt teams only have two games remaining in the regular season. They will next travel to Olathe on Friday before hosting Aspen on Feb. 14.

Aspen girls swim team fifth in conference championships with state next

The Aspen High School girls swim team completed play at the 2019 Southwest Conference Championship meet on Saturday, finishing fifth. The Skiers, who are one of the smallest teams in the state, had 258 points to finish third among Class 3A schools. Glenwood Springs, also 3A, took home the top spot with 428 points, beating 4A Grand Junction (359) and 4A Fruita Monument (319), while 3A Durango was fourth with 309 points.

Aspen had its share of race winners. Among individuals, sophomore Emily Kinney stood out in the 200-yard IM, winning by more than four seconds. Freshman Ava Cherry was eighth in the same event, to go with a sixth-place finish in the 500-yard free. Senior Davy Brown just edged Grand Junction’s Nina English to win the 50-yard free, while it was English who just edged Brown to win the 100-yard free.

Standout freshman Laila Khan-Farooqi won the 100-yard back while also taking third in the 200-yard free. Aspen’s relays were on point, getting wins in both the 200-yard medley relay (Brown, Kinney, Khan-Farooqi, Kayla Tehrani) and 200-yard free relay (same four).

Tehrani, another freshman, came in second in the 100-yard fly. Sophomore Carolina Robinson was 12th in the 100-yard fly to sneak in a state qualifying time. Kinney finished second in the 100-yard breast, with Tehrani coming in third. The 400-yard free relay was 14th, a group comprised of Cherry, Robinson, sophomore Aja Schiller and senior Julia Haugan.

Next up, the Skiers will compete in the 3A state championship on Friday and Saturday in Fort Collins. AHS won the state title only two winters ago, their first in swimming.

Olson, Barsness lead Aspen skiers in home cross-country meet

The Aspen High School cross-country ski team, along with the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, hosted Day 1 of the Raoul Wille Memorial Ski Race on Saturday. The meet, held on the AVSC/AHS trails, included the main 5-kilometer event.

In the boys’ race, Vail Mountain School’s Cameron Wolfe took the top spot with a time of 15 minutes, 40.38 seconds. Aspen’s Everett Olson led the Skiers by finishing fourth in 16:07.61. The joint club/high school race included some higher-end athletes, such as Steamboat’s Jimmy Colfer, a freshman on the University of Denver ski team. He finished third, with Steamboat U16 athlete Wally Magill taking second.

Aspen’s Colt Whitley (12th), Noah Wheeless (13th) and Anders Weiss (18th) all recorded top-20 finishes.

In the girls’ 5k race, Summit County U16 skier Nina Schamberger took the win in 18:36.49. Aspen’s most notable finisher was Emma Barsness, who was 12th in 20:22.42. Colorado Rocky Mountain School’s Kate Oldham was 14th and Aspen’s Jordan Miner 17th.

Racing will continue throughout the day Sunday on the AVSC trails.

Aspen High boys win alpine event in Steamboat, girls take third

The Aspen High School alpine team competed Saturday at Steamboat Springs, with the boys winning the team title and the girls coming in third place on Howelsen Hill.

The AHS boys had eight skiers finish in the top 15, led by a second-place finish from Reed Beidleman. Vail Mountain School’s Robert Harnick took the win.

Also finishing top 10 for AHS were James Kelly (6th), Davis Colon (7th), Alex Ilic (8th), J.P. Simpson (9th) and Jake Morgan (10th). Ethan deMoraes was 11th, Christian Kelley 14th and John Schille 16th.

Steamboat Springs was second and Battle Mountain third in the boys’ race.

In the girls’ race, Battle Mountain took the team title, followed by Steamboat in second and Aspen in third. Aspen’s best result came from Levyn Thomas, who finished fourth. India Cardamone also had a top-10 result, coming in ninth. Sneaking into the top 15 were Summer McSwain (12th) and Edie Sherlock (13th).

acolbert@aspentimes.com