Girls basketball

The Coal Ridge Titans saw the most action on the court the first week back, improving to an 8-2 record and netting their first league victory across their three games.

After falling in a game lacking offensive at Grand Junction Central 27-20 on Jan. 4, Coal Ridge bounced back with a pair of 50-point victories, first against Steamboat Springs on Thursday and North Fork on Saturday.

“We struggled a little bit in the second quarter, but we pulled it together in the second half,” Coal Ridge head coach Clyde Morgan said of the 57-43 win over North Fork.

Junior Jackie Camunez landed 20 points against Steamboat Springs and 27 against North Fork, leading the Titans both times. According to MaxPreps — which at the time of writing does not yet include statistics from the North Fork game — Camunez is averaging 15.3 points per game.

Grand Valley continued its equally hot start to the season through two games, also sitting at 8-2 overall and 1-0 in the 3A Western Slope League, according to MaxPreps. The Cardinals trampled Eagle Valley 72-39 on Thursday and Battle Mountain 60-34 on the road Saturday.

Junior Abbey Parker led three Cardinals in double-digit scoring with 25 points against Eagle Valley. No individual statistics were available at the time of writing for the victory over Battle Mountain.

In other action, Glenwood Springs fell to Chatfield on Jan. 4 and against Fruita Monument on Thursday in their return from the break.

The Demons fell to 5-5 ahead of their first league game Tuesday evening at home against Summit.

Boys basketball

The Titan boys also came out swinging to begin league play, besting North Fork 89-63 on Saturday at home.

Junior Andres Mendoza and senior Eddie Salazar each had 22 points to lead Coal Ridge. Mendoza went 8-for-12 from the field including 4-for-7 on 3-pointers, according to MaxPreps.

The Titans moved to 4-3 and 1-0 in league after falling 53-48 against Steamboat Springs on the preceding Thursday.

Meanwhile, Glenwood Springs’ early season struggles continued following the break with a 55-44 loss against Fruita Monument on Thursday. No individual statistics were available.

The loss dropped the Demons to 3-8 overall before hosting Summit on Tuesday to open their league schedule.

The Grand Valley Cardinals also returned to action in the first week, falling against Eagle Valley 65-58 on Thursday. Seniors Kaleb Pressler and Emilio Garcia each tallied 14 points in the loss.

The Cardinals sit at 4-3 overall with a 1-0 league record.

Girls swimming

Glenwood Springs sat atop the points standings after all the splashing settled in a five-team meet Saturday in Montrose.

The Demons scored 420 points, 114 more than second-place Grand Junction.

Glenwood won six events, with junior Anna Thornton playing a role in four. She won the 50- and 200-meter freestyles and anchored the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay.

Senior Amy Madson won the 200 individual medley and sophomore Sophie Price won the 100 backstroke.

“We have not swam in a swim meet in a month and were a bit sluggish,” Demons coach Steve Vanderhoof said.

He added that the team is slated to compete for five weeks in a row before the 3A state championship Feb. 11-12.

Hockey

The Glenwood Springs Demons saw both sides of the blowout coin in their first week back, first falling 7-2 at Summit on Friday before trouncing Woodland Park on the road Saturday 8-2.

After scoring at Summit, junior Avner Mangeot led the way with five points against Woodland Park, including two more goals. Freshman Kade Winger and junior Jonas Kohout each found the net twice as well and had additional assists. Brayden Dacuma also scored. Sophomore goaltender Marek Senn notched the win.

Wrestling

Coal Ridge finished third in the Eagle Valley Varsity Invitational on Saturday with 69 points.

Cooper Thurman took gold in the 126-pound class and Angelo Perea and Austin Price took silvers in the 220 and 138, respectively.

Grand Valley placed sixth, followed immediately by Rifle. Glenwood Springs finished 11th, as Delta ran away with the tournament title, claiming 154 points.

In other events, Grand Valley and Coal Ridge went head-to-head in the Eagle Valley Triangular on Thursday. The Cardinals topped the Titans in their duals, but both teams lost to the host.

Rifle lost to Delta and the host in the Meeker duals on the same day.

Reporter Rich Allen can be reached at 970-384-9131 or rallen@postindependent.com.