Prep teams bounce back into basketball

It’s been a long break for Christmas and New Year’s, but school is finally back in session, and that means it’s time once again for high school basketball to hit the hardwood.

After a strong 1999 portion of the season, all four upper-valley teams will be looking to continue their solid play as they roll into 2000.

Up first will be the Aspen boys team, which resumes play tomorrow night on the road at Moffat County. It will be the first contest for the 3A Skiers since a heartbreaking, double-overtime, 62-56 loss to Belleview Christian School, the state’s top 1A program. But moving back into the win column against the 4A Bulldogs will be anything but a given. Moffat County’s last game was a hard-fought 78-65 victory over a very good Basalt boys team at the Big House at Basalt High School.

The Skiers enter the 2000 portion of their schedule with a 4-2 record after starting off 3-0. Aspen took the title at the Aspen Skierdome Classic with a pair of lopsided wins and then disposed of Ridgway 81-62 in the semifinals of Basalt’s Clay Belk Memorial Tournament before dropping a 56-42 decision to Kent Denver in the finals. They rebounded from that loss to beat Grand Valley 62-50 before the loss to Belleview Christian to end 1999.

Following the game against Moffat County and another road contest versus Steamboat Friday afternoon, the Skiers will open the 3A Western Slope League season when they host Rangely on Saturday, Jan. 15.

The Aspen girls will resume their season Friday afternoon at home against Steamboat, after enduring a layoff that dates to Dec. 16 due to Belleview Christian’s inability to field a girls squad.

The Skiers of first-year coach Lance Finkbeiner will be trying to shake off the rust against a tough 4A opponent, but appear up to the task, if the 1999 part of their season was any indication. Aspen rolled to a 4-1 record in the early going behind a big, strong front line and a trio of quick, ballhawking guards.

Aspen started its season on a real roll, winning its first three games by an average margin of over 40 points a game. The Basalt girls put a stop to the Skiers’ dreams of an undefeated campaign with a 56-45 setback in the finals of the Clay Belk Memorial Tournament, but Aspen bounced right back with a 67-45 victory over Grand Valley.

The Aspen girls will start the league season on Jan. 15 as well, when they also square off against the Rangely Panthers.

The team that had perhaps the toughest time sitting idle during the holiday break would have to be the Basalt girls. Under the guidance of coach Debbie Cain, the Longhorns served notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with all season long in the WSL. In addition to winning the championship at its own tournament in December, Basalt also posted impressive wins over Buena Vista and Glenwood Springs en route to an unblemished 6-0 record.

But it was the Longhorns final game before the break that proved to be the team’s most competitive. Basalt was extended to overtime by a scrappy Moffat County team before prevailing 39-36 in a defensive battle. The going won’t get any easier Friday afternoon when the Longhorns get back on the court, as they will be playing host to another 4A power, the Rifle Bears.

Following that game, Basalt will kick off the WSL season with back-to-back home games against Olathe and Gunnison on Jan. 14-15.

The Basalt boys will also get under way Friday afternoon against Rifle before their league matchups next week against Olathe and Gunnison.

The early part of the season has not been as kind to the Longhorn boys as it was to their female counterparts.

Playing a ruthless schedule, the Longhorns have fought their way to a 3-3 mark. A tough scheduling break had Basalt opening the season against the defending 3A state champs, Buena Vista, which defeated the Longhorns 95-89 in OT. Horns also had to open the Clay Belk Memorial Tournament against eventual champ Kent Denver and dropped that contest 74-56 before downing Ridgway 84-69 in the consolation game.

In their next game, the Basalt boys posted a big win over Glenwood Springs, 75-67, but were tripped up by Moffat County in their final contest before the break.