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Longhorn hoopsters sweep on weekend

Tim Mutrie

Longhorn freshman Dayne Toney rang up 17 points Friday and 16 points Saturday as the Basalt High girls basketball team dispatched back-to-back league opponents over the weekend.

The BHS girls beat Olathe 54-36 on the road Friday and Gunnison 50-36 at home Saturday, and the BHS boys team matched the effort with a weekend sweep of their own ” 52-43 over Olathe, and 58-44 over Gunnison.

The Aspen High teams struggled at Roaring Fork Friday night, with both teams losing big. On Saturday at home, the AHS boys rebounded to beat Hotchkiss, while the AHS girls lost by four.



Bolstered by Toney’s 33-point weekend, the BHS girls improved to 2-1 in Class 3A Western Slope League play and 3-6 overall.

Lindsey Soucie added 11 points against Olathe, Cassie Meyer chipped in eight and Kelsea Mulcahy and Deanna Spracher added six apiece. Spracher contributed 12 against Gunnison in the BHS Bighouse, the Mulcahy sisters ” senior Kelsea and sophomore Katy ” had five each.




“It was a good weekend,” said coach Terry Kappeli. “I think we finally got a good rotation. It was some of the best defense that I’ve seen all year, a group of kids working hard together. We did a great job.”

The 5-foot-10 Toney doesn’t play a traditional position, Kappeli said.

“She’s just all over. She’s a heckuva player. She’s good a good feel about where to be on the court and she complements our other players,” he said.

“Deanna Spracher had a great weekend, too, showing strong senior leadership. But everyone’s been scoring and everyone’s been contributing.”

Ben Pollock led Basalt past Olathe with 23 points, and Cody Burkholder picked up the torch Saturday against Gunnison with a team-high 14 points.

The BHS boys also got their first league wins and improved to 2-1 in the 3A WSL and 4-5 overall.

“They were both good wins for us,” said coach Michael Green. “I feel like our kids are starting to come together. There’s good chemistry and a lot of camaraderie, and the kids are really working hard.”

Darren Duroux added 14 points against Olathe, and Jesse Regan and Pollock scored 12 and 11, respectively, against Gunnison.

Basalt’s second-half defense proved the difference both games ” the ‘Horns limited Olathe to six points in the fourth quarter and allowed only 16 Gunnison points in the second half.

“We were able to force them to take some shots that they weren’t ready to take,” said Green.

The Aspen girls lost 53-31 to Roaring Fork Friday, then 47-43 to Hotchkiss Saturday.

The Skiers dropped to 0-3 in 3A WSL playand 5-5 overall.

“Roaring Fork took us out to the woodshed and spanked us bad,” said coach Dave Conarroe. “We’re going to have to solve that puzzle, because right now they’re better than us.”

Aspen cut the deficit to two possessions in the third quarter. “We played some pretty good basketball,” the coach said, “but then they ran away with it. They’ve got a lot of very good players.”

Roaring Fork’s Megan Zeigel led all scorers with 17 points. Aspen’s Liz Floyd led the Skiers with 10 points.

Against Hotchkiss, Aspen went 13-for-28 from the free-throw line, a statistic that hurt the Skiers. Corie Thompson had 14 points, and Carly Rosen and Brittany Fortier scored 10 each.

“We had our chances to win but didn’t get it done. But I still like our chances. And if we can look to get a split with these teams next time, we’ll be OK. Now, we’re looking toward Basalt and we got to dome to play,” Conarroe said.

Aspen and Basalt meet for the first time this season on Friday in Basalt. Tip off is 5:30 p.m. for the girls and 7 p.m. for the boys.

After suffering a 62-28 defeat at Roaring Fork Friday, the AHS boys bounced back to beat Hotchkiss 68-51 Saturday.

The AHS boys stand at 1-2 in league play and 2-8 overall.

Brock Strausbourger and David Porter led the Skiers against Hotchkiss with 15 points each. Joe Turner added 14 and Halli Stefansson chipped in 8.