Preps: Winter sports ready to send it as action gets underway this week
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
The calendar has officially flipped the page to December, and that means the start of the winter high school sports season across the state. Before we get going, let’s look back on last season to lay the foundation for what should be another exciting few months of play.
Boys basketball
Aspen High School boys basketball is entering Year 4 under Cory Parker, the 2008 AHS graduate and former star player who took over the program after previously serving as an assistant under Alex Schrempf.
In his first season as the head coach, Parker led the Skiers to a perfect 27-0 record and the Class 3A state championship, a first for AHS basketball. After losing 10 seniors on that team, the Skiers moved to 4A (after 6A was added) for the 2022-23 season, finishing 16-8, losing to No. 7 Eaton as the No. 26 seed in the first round.
Last winter, Aspen went 19-6 overall, won the 4A Western Slope League, and made the state tournament as the No. 10 seed, beating No. 23 Berthoud (70-57) in the first round. The season ended in the second round with a 67-65 loss at No. 7 DSST: Montview.
Expectations entering this season are again high, with AHS graduating only a couple of seniors off last year’s team. The CHSAANow.com preseason poll ranks them at No. 6 in 4A, behind only No. 5 DSST: Montview, No. 4 Pagosa Springs, No. 3 Holy Family, No. 2 Colorado Academy, and No. 1 Kent Denver (last year’s state runner-up). Defending 4A champion Resurrection Christian is back down to 3A this season.
The Skiers are set to open their season on Thursday against Middle Park in a tournament hosted by top-ranked Kent Denver. The only home game prior to the holiday break is currently a Dec. 19 date with Florence.
Basalt also enters the season with cautiously high expectations and is effectively ranked preseason No. 13 in 4A. The Longhorns are again led by Clint Hunter, who took over as head coach for the 2019-20 season. BHS has been on a steady climb since coming out of the shortened pandemic season, going 7-13 in 2021-22 and 11-13 in 2022-23.
Basalt went 10-14 last winter, earning the No. 31 seed in the 4A tournament. They lost a tough game to No. 2 Resurrection Christian, 37-29, in the first round. Much like Aspen, BHS had a small senior class a season ago and should have a lot of experience to put on the court this winter.
The Longhorns open their season on Tuesday at North Fork. They’ll then play Grand Valley on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the annual Brenda Patch Tournament, hosted by Roaring Fork in Carbondale.
The Rams, playing out of 3A, open their season on Tuesday against Rifle. Roaring Fork went 11-12 last winter, making the postseason as the No. 25 seed, losing to No. 8 Peyton in the first round, 68-60.
Girls basketball
Local girls basketball continues to be in a transformative phase entering the season.
Aspen returns to the court under third-year coach Brian Tauber, who took over a team that needed to shut down its varsity program for a couple of years to rebuild. After going winless in 2022-23, the Skiers went 1-18 a season ago, beating Steamboat Springs early in the season for the lone victory.
The Skiers continue to play out of 3A and open this season with a home game on Friday against Moffat County. Tip-off is tentatively scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
Basalt is led by third-year coach Brittany Conklin. BHS went 12-12 in 2022-23, but struggled a season ago, finishing only 2-21 overall. The Longhorn girls will join the boys by opening the season on Tuesday at North Fork. They’ll then head to the Brenda Patch Tournament in Carbondale, where they’ll play host Roaring Fork in the first round on Thursday.
The Roaring Fork girls enter the season tied for No. 9 in 3A in the preseason CHSAANow.com poll. The Rams went 16-8 a winter ago, earning the No. 10 seed for the state tournament. After beating No. 23 Windsor Charter Academy in the first round, 78-41, the Rams lost at No. 7 Highland in the second round, 64-56.
The RFHS girls also open their season on Tuesday against Rifle.
Hockey
A new era is set to begin for Aspen hockey as it returns to varsity play after low numbers forced the program to compete at a JV-only level the past two seasons. Longtime area coach Jay Miller has taken over as the program’s head coach.
Aspen’s last varsity season came in 2021-22, going 8-11-1 overall. The Skiers won their lone state championship in 2007 and also played in the 2001 final.
AHS will open its season on Tuesday at Liberty before going to No. 8 Crested Butte on Friday. The Skiers did not receive any votes to be ranked in the preseason 4A poll; Liberty is essentially No. 14. Entering at No. 1 is Standley Lake, followed by No. 2 Steamboat Springs.
At No. 6 in the preseason poll is Glenwood Springs, which hosted a handful of AHS players on its varsity roster the past two seasons. The Demons are still chasing that first state title but have been close in recent years, highlighted by a 4A runner-up finish in 2022-23.
The 2023-24 season was also strong, going 16-4-1 overall. The season ended in upset fashion as No. 1 seed Glenwood lost to No. 4 Durango in the 4A semifinals, 4-1. Durango beat No. 10 Summit for the championship.
The Demons open their season on Friday at preseason No. 5 Summit; they travel to Aspen for the Skiers’ home opener on Dec. 13.
Girls swimming
Aspen girls swimming comes into the winter ranked preseason No. 7 in Class 3A as new coach Connor Capes takes over the program. Glenwood Springs is preseason No. 3.
The Skiers, who won the inaugural 3A title in 2017 for their lone team championship, finished a mere 28th at the state finals last year, while the Demons were third behind champion St. Mary’s and runner-up Evergreen.
Aspen is scheduled to open the season on Friday at a meet hosted by Glenwood.
Wrestling
Keegan Gilligan returns as the head coach for the Basalt wrestling program this winter.
The BHS boys did not have any state qualifiers a year ago. However, in only its second season of existence, the BHS girls wresting team did qualify then-junior Emely Mejia Garcia at 100 pounds. She won her opening-round match before a loss in the quarterfinals.
The Longhorns have a home triangular scheduled for Wednesday. Gilligan did confirm BHS will have a girls wrestling team again this winter.
Skiing
Jennifer Morandi-Benson is back as Aspen’s Alpine coach, while Greg Bodkins has taken over the Nordic program.
The Aspen girls have 10 state championships in program history, second to only Summit’s 22. However, AHS hasn’t won since 2021. Summit edged Battle Mountain for the title last winter.
It’s a similar story for the boys, where Aspen’s 11 state titles are second to only Summit’s 22. The last state title for the boys also came in 2021, the final of four straight championships. Summit has won the past three state titles.
Neither the Alpine nor Nordic teams compete until January. The highlight will come at the end, when AHS will host the 2025 CHSAA Alpine State Championships from Feb. 20-21 at Aspen Highlands.
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