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.
A third-quarter meltdown was basically the difference in a possible win for the Delta Panther boys last Friday evening in Monument.
Photo by Wayne Crick
Delta’s Blake Velasquez shoots over 6’8” Sheldon Darnell last Friday in round two of the 4A state hoops tournament.
Even though the Panthers trailed 25-19 after one period of play, they were still in the hunt for a win and a shot to advance to the next round of 4A state playoffs. Delta won the second quarter but trailed 45-40 at halftime.
Photo by Wayne Crick
Colin Fraser drives around Greeley Central’s Matt Garcia in a 4A second-round basketball game in Monument.
It was the third period that spelled doom for Delta in the second round contest against Greeley Central. The Panthers found various methods to turn the ball over and provided the Wildcats an opportunity to take over the game for good.
Greeley Central's Sheldon Darnell hit four threes in the first quarter and scored 14 points to pace the Wildcat offense to a 25-19 run. Delta's Ethan Jack Baier led six Panthers scorers with six points in the same frame to help keep Delta close.
The Jake Ames' show began in earnest in the second quarter with Ames blistering the net on his offensive end of the court for 15 points, including three treys. The Panthers outscored Greeley Central 21-20 and trailed by five, 45-40, at the half.
Murphy's Law took over in the third quarter. If it could happen to Delta, it did. Seemingly nothing went right for the Panthers as Greeley Central pounded out a 22-9 advantage and take control of the game, 67-49.
Delta failed to quit however and held on to outscore the Wildcats 16-14 in the final period to make the final score 81-65. Blake Velasquez had six points with Ames and Baier chipping in five points each for the Panthers.
Photo by Wayne Crick
Delta junior Doug Hawkins puts back a missed shot for Delta’s Panthers in game action against Greeley Central’s Wildcats last Friday evening at Lewis-Palmer High School in Monument. Delta lost their bid to advance in 4A state tournament play, 81-65.
Greeley's Darnell finished the game with six three-pointers and 32 points to lead all scorers. Ames finished with 28 for the Panthers and had four treys in the game.
Baier was next high in the books with 11 points and Velasquez finished with 10.
The loss ended a 10-game winning streak for the Panthers and left them with a 17-7 record for the season.
