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Basalt boys, girls advance

Nate Peterson

One game was a route, the other a back-and-forth thriller.But in the end, the result was the same for both of Basalt’s varsity basketball teams Friday as each advanced to second round of the 3A state tournament with wins.In Colorado Springs, the third-seeded Basalt girls jumped out to a 16-9 lead against No. 6 Bayfield and never looked back, rolling to 70-46 win.”We’ve been waiting for a few weeks for them to explode on somebody,” head coach Carolyn Compton said. “We played fast and used a lot of steals to get a lot of fast-break opportunities. The refs down here also called our style of basketball, which is a little more pushing both ways. That really riled us up and got us going.”With the win, the Longhorns (19-3) earn a matchup with second-seeded Colorado Springs Christian (20-3) today at 1 p.m. The Lions, the host team in the regional, knocked off Valley Friday night, 51-43.In Denver, it took 18 points from senior guard Ben Pollock, and a determined performance from Pollock’s mates to push the fourth-seeded Basalt boys past No. 5 seed Valley.The Longhorns trailed, 18-12, after the first quarter before a 15-7 run in the second gave Basalt a two-point lead heading into the locker room. In the third quarter, both teams matched each other bucket-for-bucket, leading to the decisive fourth.Basalt (14-9) eventually pulled away as senior Darren Duroux finished with 17 points and junior Duncan McDaniel added 10. The win earned the Longhorns a matchup with top-seeded Denver Christian (23-1) today at 3 p.m. The Crusaders, who easily handled Platte Valley Friday, 60-41, will have the home-court advantage.For the girls, junior Katy Mulcahy, sophomore Emily Peetz and sophomore Katheryne Fitzpatrick each finished with 11 points. Junior Cassie Meyer and sophomore Dayne Toney added 10 apiece. Toney also led the team in steals with eight, while Meyer pulled down a season-high 13 rebounds.”It was something we worked on this week with Cassie,” Compton said. “As a forward, we wanted her to be more aggressive rebounding, and not just wait for the post players to go after the ball.”Compton also singled out the overall defensive effort of her team, which forced more than 20 steals in the win. However, for the Longhorns are to advance to the quarterfinal, however, it will take a more complete effort, Compton said.”It’s good momentum, but if we don’t get better every game, it’s not going to happen for us,” she said. “We have to come out [today], without a practice, and mentally lock it in.”Aspen loses to Kent Denver David and Goliath this was not. At least for one half.The Aspen boys basketball team ended its season Friday night with a 77-44 loss to top-seeded Kent Denver in Englewood. The Skiers trailed the Sun Devils by only four after two quarters, before Kent Denver exploded in the second half for 48 points while holding Aspen to just 18.Sophomore Corey Parker was the Skiers’ leading scorer with 14 and senior Tucker Helmus added 10. The Skiers (10-13) finish the season with three straight losses after earning a trip to districts and a seeding in the state tournament with a 45-44 win against Olathe at home on Feb. 21.Nate Peterson’s e-mail address is npeterson@aspentimes.com