Prep briefs from Friday, Feb. 9: AHS hockey wins big over Denver East
Aspen hockey wins big on senior night
The Aspen High School hockey team took care of visiting Denver East 5-1 on Friday at Lewis Ice Arena in what was recognized as senior night for the Skiers.
The Angels actually led 1-0 after a period thanks to an early goal from Will Butterfield on a power play. Aspen came along in the second period to score three goals, one each by Max Ufkes, Henry Ferguson and Dominic Lanese, to pull ahead.
A goal by Reece Cohan and a second by Lanese in the third period shut the door on Denver East’s upset bid.
After the early goal allowed, AHS goalie Gage Redman finished with 29 saves in net.
The non-conference win improves Aspen’s record to 11-2-3 overall. Both of Aspen’s losses came in the first four games of the season. Denver East fell to 7-10 overall.
The Skiers have three games remaining in the regular season, and the next two will decide who wins the Peak Conference. Aspen plays Saturday afternoon at Heritage, a team it tied 2-2 with back on Jan. 19 in Aspen. On Friday, AHS travels to Resurrection Christian to play a team it upset 3-1 last weekend.
Aspen closes out the regular season on Feb. 17 with a home game against Mountain Vista at Lewis Ice Arena.
Aspen girls swimming wraps up state competition
Longmont held off Pueblo County on Friday to win the Class 3A girls swimming state championship in Thornton, a title won by Aspen High a year ago.
Lacking depth, AHS wasn’t expected to factor into the team title, but did have solid results across the board. Junior Davy Brown took second and senior Emily Driscoll third in the 100-yard backstroke, won by more than a second by St. Mary’s Sydney Silver. In that race, Silver set a new 3A state record with a time of 55.74 seconds, a record Brown had broken only the day before in prelims.
Freshman Emily Kinney was ninth in the 200 IM and 10th in the 100 breast, Driscoll fifth in the 100 fly, and junior Taylor Pattillo 10th in the 500 free.
In relays, Aspen was fourth in the 200 medley and second in the 200 free.
Basalt High basketball can’t quite keep up with Grand Valley in sweep
The Basalt High School basketball teams played Friday at Grand Valley, falling short in both contests.
In the boys game, Grand Valley won 66-55. In the girls game, Grand Valley won 61-44.
Both Basalt teams dropped to 4-13 overall on the season. The Longhorns have two regular season games remaining, next being a Friday trip to Aspen. They’ll close out the regular season Feb. 17 at Olathe.
Aspen basketball falls to Coal Ridge on Friday
The Aspen High School basketball teams lost at Coal Ridge on Friday.
The AHS boys lost 61-44 after leading 12-7 after a quarter. They were outscored 22-6 in the second quarter. The Skiers fell to 3-13 overall, while Coal Ridge improved to 14-2 overall.
The AHS girls lost 50-15 to fall to 1-15 overall. Coal Ridge improved to 8-9 overall.
The Skiers are scheduled to host Cedaredge on Saturday. Aspen then finishes out the regular season with a game Friday at home against Basalt and a game next Saturday at Roaring Fork.
