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.
Photo by Wayne Crick Delta senior Douglas Hawkins buries a short jumper against Glenwood Springs on Feb. 19. Delta and Glenwood played in a play-in game that went to the Demons in overtime, 65-58. Hawkins scored 18 points to lead the Panthers’ offense.But for a bit of bad luck, the Delta Panther boys' basketball team might have played in last week's district 4A tournament. The loss of senior Chris Black, for the second straight time in as many years, changed the outcome of playoff hopes for the Panthers.
Delta went on to play in first- round action a year ago before being ousted from the state hoops tournament. Black's latest bad-luck run included a broken wrist on his non-shooting side that ended his prep career.
GS 65, Delta 58 (OT)
This year's hoops squad had to face Glenwood Springs, a team it had beaten 65-50 a couple of weeks ago, in a play-in game on Feb. 18. The game, played in Delta, did not start in the Panthers' favor with Glenwood Springs sneaking to a 12-9 lead after eight minutes of play.
Delta's offense picked up the pace in the second quarter but was still outscored 19-17 and trailed 26-31 at halftime.
A dismal offensive performance plagued both teams in the third quarter but the Panthers managed to salvage a 9-8 advantage.
Delta made up the deficit between the two teams, and even held a five-point lead late in the contest. A flurry of action in the last two minutes of regulation time allowed the Demons to draw even at 52-52 to force an overtime period.
Douglas Hawkins' heroics in the final quarter almost gave the Panthers a win in regulation time. Hawkins had numerous steals and scored nine of his team-high 18 points in the period.
Once in the overtime period, Glenwood Springs was more productive by outscoring the Panthers 13-6 for the win.
Jared Gambrel had 23 points to lead all scorers in the game and Gabe Yen finished with 12. Eian Baier had 14 points and Ryan Whiteside 10 to give the Panthers three players in double figures.
The Demons, who finished seventh in league standings, defeated Battle Mountain in the tournament's seventh-place game to finish sixth. The 62-44 win marked the third time Glenwood Springs has beaten the Huskies this season.
Number two seed Palisade defeated the one seed, Durango, 63-41, for the 4A District Tournament title.
Delta ended the season with a 9-5 league mark and was 11-9 overall to finish third in WSL play.
