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.
Paonia's chances of hosting a pigtail game were lost after last weekend's two losses. The Eagles fell to Plateau Valley in Colbran 67-52 on Friday and had too many turnovers and poor shooting in their 70-58 loss at home to Rangely on Saturday.
Photo by Wayne Crick
Paonia senior Trevor Walters (13) gets two hands on a rebound against Rangely’s Ethan Peacock in a game played in Paonia last Saturday (Feb. 18). The Panthers had a hot shooting game and emerged the victor by a margin of 70-58.
The losses forced the Eagles to travel to Rangely to face the Panthers once again in a pigtail game that would decide the number four seed in this weekend's 2A WSL tournament in Kremmling and West Grand High School.
Tournament play begins with numbers one and four facing each other and number two and three matching up in first-round action Friday.
PV 67, Paonia 52
The Eagles got off to a good start against Plateau Valley on Friday. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Plateau Valley had a better beginning with a 22-18 edge in the first period. Anthony Roeber, Zane Anderson, and Daniel Ford canned six points each for Paonia to account for the Eagles' 18 points. Ted Grundy hit nine counters to lead Plateau Valley in the opening quarter.
Paonia's momentum slowed in the second stanza and the Cowboys outscored Paonia 16-9 with the help of Gundy and his seven markers. The Cowboys were leading 38-27 at halftime.
The Eagles found their groove to start the second half and used Ford's seven points to help outscore Plateau Valley 18-15 in the period.
Paonia lost ground in the fourth period with the Cowboys doubling the Eagles' score 14-7 to make the final score 67-52.
Ford's 18 points led Paonia's offensive efforts while Grundy had 31 for the Cowboys.
Rangely 70, Paonia 58
Saturday afternoon's contest with Rangely was marked by miscues and low shooting percentages.
Rangely raced to a big lead with five treys in the opening period and a 19-12 lead after one. Cameron Enterline had three made shots from beyond the arc and finished with 11 points in the quarter. Roeber was Paonia's leading scorer with five points in the period.
The Eagles played better in the second stanza and managed to outscore Rangely 16-14 to trail 33-28 at halftime. Ford had seven points in the period and Trevor Walters scored six to keep the Eagles close.
Each team scored 13 points in the third quarter keeping the deficit at five for Paonia.
The most damage done by Rangely occurred in the fourth quarter as the Panthers rolled to a 24-12 spurt and a 70-58 final score.
Rangely's Kody Denny had 10 points (eight of 10 at the charity stripe) to lead the Panthers' charge.
The game's leading scorer belonged to Rangely and Enterline who finished the 2A contest with 22 points. Denny had 17 for the winners to give the Panthers two players in double figures. Ford topped Paonia shooters with 16 points and Taylor Katzer and Walters finished with 14 counters each.
