Roaring Fork's Maddie Anderson makes a pass against Basalt during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basketball season is off and running for area high schools. Let’s catch up on how things are going a week into the winter campaign.
Both Basalt teams opened their season this past weekend at the 37th annual Brenda Patch tournament, hosted by Roaring Fork in Carbondale.
The BHS boys had a strong showing, beating Grand Valley (66-51) and Roaring Fork (55-46), before losing to Banning Lewis Academy, 67-48. The Longhorns are now 3-1 overall with a season-opening win at North Fork (57-40) also on the resume.
Basalt will next play Wheat Ridge on Thursday in the opening round of the Glenwood Springs Invitational.
The Roaring Fork boys are 2-2 overall after going 1-2 in their home tournament. They beat Banning Lewis Academy (57-54), before losses to Basalt and Plateau Valley (48-39).
The Rams play Weld Central on Thursday in another tournament.
The Roaring Fork girls handled their business, going 3-0 to win the Brenda Patch tourney on their home court. The Rams beat Basalt (68-27), Steamboat Springs (46-26), and rallied against Palisade (61-59) en route to the title.
Now 4-0 with a win over Rifle (67-38) also on the resume, the RFHS girls also play Weld Central on Thursday.
The Basalt girls are now 0-4 overall. On top of the loss to Roaring Fork, the Longhorns lost to Rifle (47-24) and Grand Valley (30-28) in Carbondale. BHS plays Montrose on Thursday at the Glenwood invite.
Aspen boys basketball opened its season this past weekend at the Kent Denver tournament, going 2-1. The Skiers began with a 72-64 overtime loss to Middle Park, but answered back with wins over Rifle (56-41) and Coal Ridge (50-40).
Basalt High School’s Taylor Hays, right, defends against Grand Valley’s Tyden Richardson during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basalt High School’s Zealand Lane, right, defends against Grand Valley’s Porter Ostermiller during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basalt High School’s Taylor Hays takes a shot against Grand Valley during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basalt High School’s Eric Palomares, left, defends against Grand Valley’s Tyden Richardson during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basalt High School’s Nate Donnelly, left, chases down Grand Valley’s Andrew Palcer during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Palisade plays the Rifle girls in the first round of the annual Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basalt High School’s Maddie Ingles, left, defends against the shot of Roaring Fork’s Nikki Tardif during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Roaring Fork’s Maddie Anderson makes a pass against Basalt during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Roaring Fork’s Alexy Sanchez sizes up the Basalt defense during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basalt High School’s Lilu Illouz makes a pass against Roaring Fork during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Roaring Fork’s Kennedy Arnold eyes a teammate to pass to against Basalt during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Roaring Fork’s Nikki Tardif takes a shot against Basalt during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Roaring Fork’s Hazel Jenkins takes a shot against Basalt during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basalt High School girls basketball coach Brittany Conklin watches from the sideline against Roaring Fork during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basalt High School’s Maddie Ingles controls the ball against Roaring Fork during the Brenda Patch basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, hosted by Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
The Skiers next play in the Fort Lupton tournament, where they face Valley on Thursday.
The Aspen girls are 0-2 after losses to Moffat County (53-26) and Cedaredge (58-14) to open the season. The Skiers aren’t scheduled to play again until traveling to Olathe on Jan. 10.
Hockey and more
Aspen hockey is back at the varsity level this winter after two years away due to low numbers. In their season-opener on Dec. 3, the Skiers lost 6-3 at Liberty. On Friday, AHS lost 2-1 at Crested Butte to begin 0-2 overall.
The Skiers are scheduled to host Glenwood Springs on Friday in their home opener. The puck drops at 6 p.m. inside Aspen’s Lewis Ice Arena. AHS will also host Pueblo County at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The Demons are 2-0 with wins over Summit (5-4 in OT) and Crested Butte (8-2).
The seasons are also underway for Aspen girls swimming and Basalt wrestling. AHS skiing will get underway in January.
Also of note, the AHS dance team will compete this coming weekend at the CHSAA state championships.