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Colbert’s Prep Playbook: Catching up on the first weekend of the winter season

The winter sports season is off and running for Aspen and Basalt prep teams. What exactly did we learn from this past weekend? Well, not a whole lot, but we can try and summarize it anyway in this week’s Prep Playbook.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

From a record standpoint, it wasn’t a good weekend for either team. But, all things considered, we can call it a success.



Basalt went 1-2, with both losses coming against teams that are currently ranked in the top 10 in Class 3A. The BHS girls fell 54-33 to current No. 10 Eaton and then lost 42-26 to current No. 9 Platte Valley. Both of those teams dropped a bit in the rankings after each lost to The Academy, which is 3-0 and ranked No. 4 in 3A this week.

Basalt finished its opening weekend of play with a 58-51 double overtime win over Valley. Keep in mind BHS started 0-6 a season ago, so things are ahead of schedule here in coach Amy Contini’s second season in charge. The Longhorns are off until Friday when they host South Park (1-1) in a girls-only night of basketball. The Burros first host Buena Vista on Wednesday in Fairplay.




The Aspen girls also finished the first weekend 1-2 overall. Competing at a tournament hosted by Meeker, the Skiers lost in the opener to the host team, 50-23. Meeker is No. 7 in Class 2A this week, so it’s hardly a bad loss. Aspen answered with a 37-35 win over Dolores in the consolation semifinals and then lost 35-21 to the Lotus School of Excellence in the consolation finals Saturday.

Much like with Basalt, Aspen girls basketball doesn’t have a history of recent success. In fact, getting to one win was the limit there for a few seasons, so to get one in the first weekend really is a nice step. The Skiers are off until Saturday when they travel to Hotchkiss for a single non-league game.

BOYS BASKETBALL

The Basalt boys got a little closer to winning each day at a tournament hosted by Eaton this past weekend, but had to settle for an 0-3 mark in coach Clint Hunter’s debut. It started with a 74-37 loss to Eaton, which is ranked No. 10 in Class 3A this week. Then came a 64-53 loss to Platte Valley and a 77-75 loss to Valley in double overtime.

The next step is winning, right? Basalt only went 3-17 a season ago, so they aren’t expected to start ripping off wins quite yet. But they showed a lot of fight over the first weekend, and that’s really all you want. BHS will jump back into tournament play this week when they go to Weld Central. The first game will be Thursday against Vail Mountain. They will play again Friday and Saturday, those opponents to be determined.

The Aspen boys will get their season going Tuesday night at Rifle. It wasn’t but a few years ago the Bears were pretty good, but they only went 2-21 last season. A win would go a long way for the Skiers, who need to build some early-season confidence here in Year 4 under coach Alex Schrempf.

And for the rest…

Basalt wrestling started its season Saturday at a dual tournament in Buena Vista. Already a small team, the Longhorns were also missing star heavyweight Ernesto Lopez because of college testing. BHS lost four of its five duals, the fifth being a 24-24 tie with Salida. Looking at the results, it seems Ruben Samuelson was the star for the Longhorns, with the 170-pound wrestler winning all four of his matches. Basalt next competes at Moffat County on Wednesday.

Aspen hockey and girls swimming get going this week. AHS hockey has its first game Wednesday night at Battle Mountain before hosting Crested Butte on Saturday morning. Swimming gets started Wednesday in Glenwood Springs. More on them very soon.

acolbert@aspentimes.com