Photo by Wayne Crick

The Bruins’ Reid Gates goes up for a shot between Hotchkiss’ Mitch McCallister (10) and Taylor Schreiner (11) on Feb. 7. Gates scored 14 points for Cedaredge and often drew the attention of the Bulldogs’ defense when on offense.

The game tempo was elevated a great deal after that. Hotchkiss came on to win their ninth game of the season, 63-51.

Cedaredge's matchup against the visiting Olathe Pirates on Friday night wasn't a happy occasion either. The Pirates walked away with a 79-61 decision for their 11th win of the year.

Hotchkiss 63, Cedaredge 51

Reid Gates led the way for Cedaredge in the first period with four of the nine Bruins' points. Tell Hawk had the three Hotchkiss points in the period.

Action in the second quarter was at a higher level with the Bulldogs scratching their way to a 14-11 advantage to trail 20-17 at the break. Hawk and Tanner Simpson had four points each for the Bulldogs and Luke Wieben had five and Gates four for the Bruins.

Hotchkiss came out of the locker room after halftime with purpose as they dominated play in a 33-9 run in the third quarter. The surge was one the Bruins would not recover from in spite of a good rally in the fourth quarter.

Seven Bulldogs contributed to the huge run with Simpson's eight points leading the way.

Hotchkiss found the shoe on the opponent's foot in the fourth period with the Bruins controlling play with a 22-13 rally. Wieben and Gates fueled Cedaredge's of-fense with eight and six points respectively.

Simpson's seven points helped the Bulldogs stay somewhat comfortably ahead down the stretch.

Simpson was the game's leading scorer with 19 points and Hawk finished with 10.

The Bruins had two players in double figures as well with Wieben collecting 16 and Gates 14.

OHS 79, Cedaredge 61

After the opening quarter of play, the visiting Pirates weren't interested in hanging around. Olathe won the opening period 17-16 but sent a solid message in the second stanza with a 31-11 blitz that all but sealed the game's outcome.

With a 48-27 halftime lead, the Pirates didn't let the game get away from them in the second half by turning in a solid offensive effort. The Bruins were determined to be the better of the two teams in the second half and turned in a 34-31 advantage over the game's final 16 minutes of play.

Richard Tafoya scored 16 points to lead the Pirates (11-6 and 7-4) to their 11th win of the year. Cedaredge dropped to 4-14 overall and is 2-10 in league play.

The Bruins finish their regular season in Parachute on Saturday (Feb. 18) against the Grand Valley Cardinals (11-7 and 7-5).

Game time has been set for 4 p.m.