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.
Katie Kahrs leads the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams past the throng of Garnet Mesa Elementary School students lined up to ‘high five’ the teams before they departed for 4A state playoffs games which were scheduled to begin on Friday, Feb. 24.
For the Lady Panthers of Delta, it was a great week of basketball beginning on Feb. 21 at home against Conifer.
Delta, playing in the state 4A playoffs, turned in a stellar performance as they controlled the game's tempo from start to finish in a 64-44 win.
Photo by Wayne Crick
Skylyn Webb focuses on her shot against Conifer last Tuesday (Feb. 21) as Delta hosted their first state playoff game in school’s history. Delta won the game 64-44 and went on to play two more games at D’Evelyn High School.
The playoff win was the first in school's history and propelled the Lady Panthers into round two in Denver on Friday.
Delta faced the state's number 10 ranked team, Silver Creek, at D'Evelyn High School in round two and came from behind to score a 50-47 decision. With the win, Delta moved to the "sweet 16" for the first time in school history where they faced number three D'Evelyn. The Lady Jaguars were too proficient from long range and eliminated Delta from the tournament with a 74-58 win.
Delta 64, Conifer 44
Delta's Lady Panthers began their quest for a state 4A basketball title with a solid performance last Tuesday (Feb. 21) in Delta against Conifer's Lady Lobos. Delta, the number five seed from the Tracy Hill Region, earned a trip to Denver for the second round of state playoff action with their first-ever playoff win, 64-44, over Conifer, the region's number 12 seed.
The Panthers (18-4) wasted little time in establishing who was going to be the winner in their opening round game against the Lady Lobos (9-13). Skylyn Webb and Callie Gafford ignited a Delta run of 24-10 with 10 and six points respectively in the first quarter.
Photo by Wayne Crick
Delta’s Shelby Curtis (11) goes up for a shot in the midst of three Silver Creek defenders on Friday (Feb. 24) in Denver. The Lady Panthers won their first-ever playoff game, 50-47, and advanced to the ‘sweet 16’ for the first time as well.
Webb and Gafford continued to dominate the game, offensively, for Delta with six points each in the second period in a 16-13 advantage for the Lady Panthers. With the run, Delta took a 40-23 halftime lead and never looked back.
Second-half play was much closer with the Lady Panthers going to a cruise-control style of play to preserve their lead. Delta outscored the Lady Lobos 12-10 in the third period and 12-11, with the help of Webb's eight points, in the final stanza.
Free throw shooting remained a negative statistic for Delta as they converted on 15 of 26 attempts. Taylor Zunich was a bright spot for the Lady Panthers at the line with a five-for-five performance and Carissa Sidor hit three of the four attempts she had.
Webb was the game's leading scorer with 25 points and Gafford finished with 17 to pace Delta with two players in double figures. Conifer's Kelsey Sheen netted 19 counters to lead the Lady Lobos' offense.
Delta 50,
Silver Creek 47
The Lady Panthers found themselves in a fight with
Photo by Wayne Crick
Carissa Sidor (12) and Callie Gafford (40) apply defensive pressure that causes a turnover against this Conifer player last Tuesday (Feb. 21). The Lady Panthers scored a 64-44 win against Conifer and advanced to the next round of 4A state playoffs.
Silver Creek's Lady Raptors at D'Evelyn High School on Friday (Feb. 24). A solid offense helped Silver Creek build an opening quarter lead of 19-9. Shelby Keil hit two of her four treys for the game in the first quarter to help the Lady Raptors get an early jump.
Delta began chipping away at the Lady Raptors' lead in the second period with a 13-7 run that left Delta behind 26-22 at halftime. Shelby Curtis sparked the run for Delta with five points and Gafford added four.
Both teams had ugly third quarters with Silver Creek adding to their lead with a 9-6 edge.
The Lady Panthers put things together in the final quarter to produce a 22-12 run that turned into a 50-47 win for Delta. Gafford led the way for Delta with six points and Webb chipped in five. Alyssa Goff and Katie Kahrs hit threes to add more distress to Silver Creek's woes.
Webb and Gafford scored 13 points each for Delta with Curtis contributing 10.
Silver Creek's Keil was the game's leading scorer with 14 points.
Delta's free throw shooting was above average as the Lady Panthers scored on 12 of their 19 attempts from the line.
The win gave Delta its first ever "sweet 16" appearance.
D'Evelyn 74,
Delta 58
A torrid-shooting first half lifted D'Evelyn's Lady Jaguars to a 23-point lead at the break. In all, D'Evelyn rained seven threes on the Lady Panthers' defense in the crucial first half of action. Delta's defense was where it was supposed to be, but D'Evelyn's shooters were calm and accurate in most all situations.
D'Evelyn scored 24 points in the opening quarter and Delta finished with 15. The Lady Panthers opened the game with a 5-0 run that quickly evaporated with the three-rain and Madalyn Neely's 12-point performance. Delta had even scoring with Webb and Taylor Zunich collecting four points each.
D'Evelyn took advantage of several Delta miscues and missed shots to put up another 24 points in the second stanza. The Lady Jaguars hit five three-pointers in the period to overwhelm Delta in a 24-10 run.
Laura Tyree scored 11 points in the Lady Jaguars' run, including a pair of treys.
Delta's fortunes looked favorable in the second half as D'Evelyn's outside game was missing. An 11-10 third quarter wasn't much in the way of closing the gap, but it was a start for things to come.
After trailing by 23 points at halftime, Delta was able to cut the Lady Jaguars' lead down to nine with 3:49 remaining in the game.
Following a time out, and a Delta turnover, D'Evelyn hit a three from the left baseline to push their lead up to 12.
The Lady Panthers were forced to foul in an effort to slow the game down and hopefully get the ball back without falling farther back. Unfortunately for Delta, D'Evelyn's free throw shooters met the challenge and hit seven of 15 attempts to keep the Lady Panthers at bay.
Delta won the last quarter, 22-16, but needed more time to get the job done.
Tyree scored 25 points for the Lady Jaguars to lead all scorers in the game. Neely finished with 22 for the winners.
Delta had three players in double figures with Webb's 15 leading the way. Taylor Zunich was next with 12 counters and Gafford finished with 11.
For Delta, it was a season of firsts once again. For the second season in a row, Delta completed the year with more wins than any other girls' team with a 20-5 mark.
The Lady Panthers, along with Glenwood Springs, finished the season with identical 20-5 records.
Another first for the girls, and Delta High School, is the fact that for the first time in school history, both the boys and girls teams won team titles in the same season.
A third record was the victory against Conifer on Feb. 21 to mark the school's first state playoff victory.
The victory against Silver Creek on Friday, Feb. 24, marked the first time a Delta girls' team had reached the 'sweet 16'.
A 2-1 record in state playoffs is something to shoot for in the seasons to come.
Add to the accolades for Delta the fact their junior varsity team won the league title as well provides fuel for something grand in 2012-13.
Congratulations Delta Lady Panthers on a fantastic basketball season.
