BHS girls host weekend tournament; AHS hockey, basketball at home
The Basalt High School girls basketball team is going to play a lot of basketball this weekend. How about three games in less than 24 hours?
“Practicing is always fun and stuff, but really the games are the best,” Basalt coach Kat Fitzpatrick said. “I’m sure they’d rather play two games in a row than have one practice.”
The BHS girls will host a rare home “tournament” starting Friday and concluding Saturday. The Longhorn Classic will include Battle Mountain and Coal Ridge, a final test for Basalt before it heads to winter break.
Basalt is 1-4 overall heading into Friday’s 4 p.m. game with Battle Mountain. The Longhorns also will play Coal Ridge at 7 p.m. Friday, before once again facing Battle Mountain at noon on Saturday.
Coal Ridge is a league opponent for Basalt, but Friday’s game won’t count toward league play.
“The girls, it’s fun for them to have experience on varsity, but then also a home game is pretty helpful, because we don’t have that many this season,” Fitzpatrick said. “For a lot of the younger girls, it gets their jitters out.”
There also is a junior varsity portion to the Longhorn Classic, which also includes Roaring Fork. The BHS girls JV team plays Roaring Fork at 4 p.m. Friday, Coal Ridge at 8 a.m. Saturday and Battle Mountain at noon Saturday.
Games will be played in both the main BHS gymnasium as well as the auxiliary gym.
The Basalt High School boys basketball team is playing a two-game tournament hosted by Montezuma-Cortez Friday and Saturday.
The BHS wrestling team is at a tournament hosted by West Grand on Saturday.
Big games ahead for Aspen
The Aspen High School basketball teams will get to play on their home court for the first time Friday. The Skiers host Vail Christian, with the girls varsity team playing at 5:30 p.m. and the boys varsity at 7 p.m.
It will be the final games before break for Aspen. The Skiers will return to play at Moffat County on Jan. 6.
Also Friday, the Aspen High hockey team will face defending state champion and current No. 1 Regis Jesuit at 5:45 p.m. at Lewis Ice Arena. The Skiers (1-3) got their first win of the season Wednesday, winning 3-0 at Doherty in Colorado Springs.
The AHS girls swim team starts its season Saturday at Summit.
