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Aspen boys basketball shocks Moffat County for second win in two days

Aspen's Nick Wilson, right attempts a pass to teammate Jonathan Woodrow on Saturday against Moffat County.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times |

Aspen High School boys basketball coach Alex Schrempf wanted his players to trust the process, something that became difficult to do after an eight-game losing streak.

Then came Friday’s 62-35 win over a struggling Lake County team, a momentum shift that carried into Saturday’s game with visiting Moffat County.

“They started giving it a genuine shot, a genuine try and good things happen so they stick with it,” Schrempf said. “They are buying into it, and it’s really fun to see.”



Moffat County played Aspen on Jan. 5 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, winning 59-37. Saturday was the complete opposite with Aspen fighting off the Bulldogs for a 57-44 win inside the AHS gymnasium. MCHS fell to 7-5 overall and 0-2 in Western Slope League play, while the Skiers improved to 3-8 overall and 1-0 in WSL play.

“It’s night and day, and it’s really because they are moving together,” Schrempf said of the team’s IQ in the two recent wins compared to the eight losses. “All of a sudden things are opening up because when they don’t have the ball and they are not the center of attention, they are still working. And things start coming together that way.”




Aspen led 31-22 at halftime against Moffat County on Saturday thanks to a strong push over the final minutes of the second quarter. The lead reached as much as 35-22 early in the third quarter before a 7-0 run by Moffat County made it a contest again.

AHS led 41-33 after three quarters and held off multiple Bulldog rallies to eventually win by 13. Nine different players scored for the Skiers, led by 12 points from senior Dillon Leasure. Nick Wilson had 10.

“We got kids that can play, it’s just about figuring out how to do it as a group,” Schrempf said. “It’s starting to click, but they got to stay hungry.”

Aspen girls lose to Moffat

Also Saturday, the Aspen High School girls basketball team lost 35-19 to Moffat County (9-3 overall), a team sitting only a few spots outside the top 10 in Class 3A. AHS fell to 1-10 overall.

Both Aspen teams next play Friday night at home against Olathe and Saturday afternoon at home against Gunnison.

Longhorns fall at Delta

The Basalt High School basketball teams played Saturday at Delta, with the BHS boys losing 60-50 and BHS girls losing 56-54. The Basalt boys now are 2-9 overall and girls 3-8 overall. Basalt next plays Friday at home against Gunnison and Saturday at home against Cedaredge.

acolbert@aspentimes.com