Basalt boys roll through Gunnison, into district semis; AHS boys, BHS girls lose
It didn’t take long Tuesday for the Basalt High School boys basketball team to put away visiting Gunnison in their district tournament game. The Longhorns, the No. 2 seed in the Class 3A Western Slope League, rolled over the No. 7 seed Cowboys 67-26 to keep their season alive.
Gunnison, which beat Olathe 52-45 Monday in its district pigtail game, finishes the season 7-14 overall.
“We took care of business,” Basalt coach Danny Martinez said. “It was start to finish like that.”
Basalt, which won the lone regular-season meeting 67-51 in Gunnison, led 17-5 after a quarter Tuesday and 32-14 at halftime. The Cowboys failed to score double digits in a single quarter.
Senior big man Michael Glen finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Longhorns. Junior guard Justin Henderson had 14 points, and senior Kyle Roberts 11 points.
“They’ve been ready,” Martinez said. “That’s one of our main goals this year is to get to districts and have another shot at the state tournament. So they knew what the importance of this game was.”
Next it’s all about jockeying for playoff positioning.
The Longhorns have two days off before it will face No. 3 seed Roaring Fork at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Grand Junction Central High School. The Rams won 72-44 over No. 6 Cedaredge on Tuesday.
Basalt (18-2 overall) and Roaring Fork (16-4) met twice this season, BHS winning 52-28 on Jan. 10 in Basalt, and again Feb. 3 in Carbondale, although by a narrow 60-59 margin.
The other district semifinal game Friday will be No. 1 seed Coal Ridge vs. No. 4 seed Delta. Coal Ridge ended Aspen High School’s season with a 77-31 victory on Tuesday. The Skiers finish the season, the first under coach Alex Schrempf, with a 9-12 record.
The winners of Friday’s semifinal games will meet in the district championship game Saturday at 2:30 p.m., again in Grand Junction. The third-place game is Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
All four teams should earn a spot in the 32-team, 3A state tournament. The district tournament this weekend will help determine seeding and who will have the chance to host regional games.
“We want to get a good seeding and go from there,” Martinez said. “They are two big, important games.”
Last season, the Longhorns lost 48-38 to Grand Valley in the district semifinals before beating Roaring Fork, 43-25, in the third-place game. Basalt went on to become a No. 17 seed in the state tournament, losing 54-52 in overtime to No. 16 seed Pagosa Springs in the first round to finish the season 17-6.
Also Tuesday, the Basalt High School girls basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 64-37 loss at Grand Valley. The Cardinals (14-6) were the top seed in the district tournament and will play No. 4 seed Olathe in the semifinals. No. 2 seed Cedaredge (33-21 over Gunnison) and No. 3 Moffat County (46-37 over Roaring Fork) also won Tuesday.
The Basalt girls finish the season 5-16 overall. It was their first winter under coach Kat Fitzpatrick, a 2008 BHS graduate. It was the most wins for the Longhorn girls since also winning five games in the 2010-11 season.
State golf results: Aspen High School boys finish ninth overall at RainDance
The prep golf season came to a close on Tuesday with Aspen High School finishing ninth as a team in the Class 3A state tournament, held over two days at RainDance National Resort in Windsor.
