Delta coaches Luis Meza, center, and Clayton Curtis congratulate 152-pound senior Hunter Brasfield after an upset win sent him into the 4A Region 4 semifinals.
Hotchkiss senior Joe Boyle controls Ruben Chagoya of Basalt to win a 3A Region 1 title. He is one of 7 Hotchkiss state qualifiers.
Hotchkiss and Paonia boys will square off this week on the basketball courts. Both are 6-4 in league play.
Delta senior Brooke Taylor scores two of her 12 points against Summit after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Paonia 195-pounder Tyler “TK” Kendall sets Rangely’s Drew Collins up for a pin.
Paonia freshman Bo Pipher sets TJ Richard of North Park up for a pin in Saturday’s regional semifinal round. He is one of 13 Paonia wrestlers headed to state!
Surrounded by coaches and his dad, Conner Beard signs Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Nebraska Kearney.
Hotchkiss' Jacobe Galley signed a Letter of Intent to play football and study engineering at Colorado Mesa University.
Hotchkiss senior Cody Bartlett signed his National Letter of Intent to run cross-country for Hawaii Pacific University.
Delta High School's boys' basketball team opened their league season with a split against Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain. The Panthers played in Gypsum against Eagle Valley on Jan. 3 and hosted Battle Mountain on Thursday, Jan. 5. Delta lost to the Devils on Tuesday, 59-42, and defeated the Huskies, 65-51, on Thursday.
With the split, the Panthers are 1-1 in league play and 7-4 overall.
Photo by Wayne Crick
Blake Velasquez, left, and Ethan Jack Baier, 11, trap the ball during first-half action against Battle Mountain’s Huskies. Delta bounced back from a loss in Gypsum to win 65-51.
EV 59, Delta 42
The Devils were defending their home court and did so with authority as they rolled to an 18-1 opening quarter. Sam Lounsberry and Tim Wells scored six and five points respectively in the quick start for Eagle Valley.
Delta settled down in the second quarter to outscore the Devils 13-9. Jake Ames' seven points ignited the Panthers' offense and Blake Velasquez chipped in an additional four counters.
Delta held a slight advantage in the third quarter with a 14-11 edge that cut the Devil's lead to 38-28.
In the final stanza, Eagle Valley withstood a Delta rally which was sparked by Ames' eight points. Wells' seven points, including five of six from the free throw line, helped the Devils in a 21-14 run for the 59-42 win.
Ames was the lone Panther in double figures (18) while Wells' 17 topped Eagle Valley shooters.
Photo by Wayne Crick
Colin Fraser pulls up for a jumper against Battle Mountain’s Jerry Carrasco (40) last Thursday (Jan. 5). The Panthers won the game 65-51 with Fraser scoring 14 points.
Delta 65, BM 51
The scrappy Battle Mountain Huskies didn't have enough offense in last week's loss to Delta. Give credit to the Panthers' defense as they held Battle Mountain to just four points in the opening period while the Panthers scored 13 points.
Balanced scoring from the Panthers in the second quarter led to a 17-9 advantage and a 30-13 halftime lead for Delta.
A big third quarter got the Huskies back into the game. Chris Duran knocked down three treys for nine points with teammate Joe Lybarger getting nine counters on a two and three-pointer and four of five free throws in Battle Mountain's 23-14 run.
The Panthers regained control of the game in the fourth period with a 21-15 surge. Ethan Jack Baier and Ames scored nine points each in the run for Delta.
Baier's second-half offensive burst gave him the game's scoring honors with 19 points. Ames had 17 and Colin Fraser finished with 14 for Delta. Duran and Lybarger led the Huskies offense with 16 points apiece.
Delta is in Glenwood Springs on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game and hosts Palisade on Tuesday, Jan. 10, for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
