Cardinal boys head to championship game

Staff Report
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
March 1, 2008

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PAONIA — After claiming the Class 2A Western Slope League Championship a few weeks ago, the Grand Valley boys basketball team is now aiming for a District 5 title as well.

With a 56-43 win over Meeker on Friday, the Cardinals (18-2) will now play in the championship game today at 2:30 p.m. at Paonia High School.

While Friday’s game wasn’t as high scoring as most Grand Valley contests, the Cardinals got a lead early in the first quarter and never trailed against Meeker (12-6).
Grand Valley added to its 21-17 halftime lead with help from the hot shooting of Colton Cowan. The junior hit a pair of 3-pointers and totaled 10 points in the third quarter as the Cardinals went ahead 38-27 going into the final frame.

Cowan finished with 13 points while Landon Pasket scored 12 for Grand Valley.
The Cards, who are guaranteed a spot at regionals despite the outcome of today’s game, will be facing the winner of the Paonia-Rangely game which was played late Friday. Results were unavailable at halftime.

Grand Valley girls fall in semifinals

Lucky for Grand Valley, the Cardinals were guarded.

The GVHS girls basketball team went 8-0 in the Class 2A Western Slope League regular season, earning a league title and automatic berth into regionals and therefore are still alive despite falling to Plateau Valley 62-57 on Friday.

The loss eliminated Grand Valley (16-4) from the District 2 Tournament, while Plateau Valley (13-6) advanced to today’s final against the winner of the Meeker/Paonia game which was late Friday. The winner of that game will be awarded the No. 1 seed in next weekend’s regional tournament at Grand Junction High School. The Cardinals will be the No. 2 seed and play the winner of the District 3 champion.

Friday’s game was very close in the first half, as the game went into halftime tied at 31. Then the Cowboys went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter to go ahead 49-39.

The Cardinals tried to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter, as Whitney Ashcraft hit three free throws in the final two minutes and Kendall Babler hit a layup to cut the Cowboys’ lead to 59-57 with 25 seconds left.

Grand Valley couldn’t get the ball back to score in the closing seconds as Plateau Valley held on to defeat the Cardinals for the second time this season.

Babler led Grand Valley with 16 points, while Erin Vanderpool had 13 and Ashcraft finished with eight.