YOUR AD HERE »

‘Upset city’ for AHS hoops

Steve Benson

“Upset city,” is how Steve Ketchum, head coach of the Aspen High boy’s basketball team, labeled the Skiers run in the district playoffs. On Saturday, Aspen upset Gunnison 46-38 at Palisades High School to claim third place in the Western Slope Conference and a higher seed in the 32 team regional playoffs, which will be held next weekend. “It was freakin’ phenomenal,” Ketchum said. “These kids continue to amaze me.” The Cowboys had beat the Skiers by a combined 23 points in the their two meetings during the regular season. The Skiers entered the districts seeded fifth in the seven-team tournament. They knocked off fourth seeded Cedaredge in the opening round before falling to top seeded Roaring Fork Friday night. “After the kind of season we had (5-15 overall record), if you told me we were going to finish third in the district, Id’ tell you you’re nuts,” Ketchum laughed. Joe Turner led the Skiers in scoring with 14 points, and collected 7 rebounds. David Porter had a team high 8 rebounds and played “great, great defense, he helped us get the win,” Ketchum said. But perhaps the key to the victory came from someone not even on the team. Ketchum said Tom Andersen, the father of Aspen player Hardy Andersen, supplied some sound advice at breakfast before the game. “He suggested we switch up our defense every time down the court,” Ketchum said. “Normally we don’t take advice from parents, but he has a background in basketball, and we thought, let’s just go ahead and do it today and see how it works – it just worked so well, it kept Gunnison off balance. “I give Tom Anderson the credit for getting us the victory.” Who and where Aspen plays in the regionals will be announced today. BasaltThe Roaring Fork High boy’s basketball team beat Basalt 56-40 in the championship game of he district playoffs Saturday at Palisades High School to finish with a perfect record in the Western Slope Conference. The Rams were 12-0 in the conference (18-3 overall). Basalt is now 12-10 overall. Both teams will advance to the regional playoffs this weekend. The Lady Longhorns lost their second straight in the districts, falling to Cedaredge 55-39 on Saturday to finish fourth in the tournament. Basalt is now 8-14 and headed to the regional playoffs. The details of the regionals will be made available today.