Great escape for Aspen boys basketball at Basalt
The Aspen Times
Jim Ryan/Special to The Aspen Times |
Escape from Basalt.
Make that the great escape for the Aspen High School boys basketball team.
“It was the great escape … that’s what we did,” Aspen head coach Steve Ketchum said after the Skiers held off a spirited Basalt boys team 53-46 on Wednesday night.
“I’ve got to give Danny Martinez, the Basalt coach, major kudos,” Ketchum said. “He got his kids to play so hard on defense and so well on offense … they made it so tough on us.”
Ketchum said the Skiers trailed by two points with 5 minutes to play.
But a key stretch propelled the Skiers to their 10th consecutive victory.
The Aspen boys, ranked No. 4 in Class 3A by coloradopreps.com, are 12-2 overall and 11-0 in the Western Slope League.
Senior Trent Lichtenwalter scored 22 to lead the Aspen offense.
Lichtenwalter had scored 23 for the Aspen boys in Tuesday’s home victory over Roaring Fork.
Fellow senior Clayton Crawford did all his scoring late Wednesday — 14 points in the fourth quarter, 18 in all.
“My boys played their hearts out (Wednesday night,” said Martinez, the first-year Basalt head coach.
“It was a great game; Aspen’s an awesome team,” Martinez said. “I was so proud of my boys.”
Ketchum said Lichtenwalter picked up the defense in the second half to help the Skiers hold off the Longhorns.
The Basalt boys moved to 1-10 overall, 1-7 in the Western Slope League. The Longhorns will play at Cedaredge on Friday and at Moffat County in Craig on Saturday.
Aspen will play at Coal Ridge on Friday night.
Girls basketball
The Basalt High School girls basketball broke through the winless barrier Wednesday night against the Aspen girls.
The Longhorns, who trailed by two points entering the fourth quarter, went on an 11-5 run to take a 36-32 lead with 3:20 to play. They expanded the lead, eventually winning 43-36.
The Longhorns improved to 1-9 overall, 1-7 in the Western Slope League.
The Skiers, who led by three points at halftime, fell to 0-13, 0-10 in conference.
The Skiers are scheduled to play at Coal Ridge on Friday night.
The Basalt girls will play at Cedaredge on Friday and at Moffat County in Craig on Saturday.
