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Demons split with Sailors

Luke Graham
Steamboat Pilot
Glenwood Springs High School senior Dakota Stonehouse reacts as Steamboat Springs High School sophomore Charles Wood puts up what would have been the game-winning shot at the end regulation of Saturday's game. Steamboat went on to defeat Glenwood in overtime 47-45.
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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS ” It’s pretty much what everyone expected from two of the best teams in the Western Slope League.

Either the Steamboat Springs boys basketball team or Glenwood Springs could have won Saturday’s showdown for first place.

Both teams probably deserved a win.



But behind a late fourth quarter comeback and a coach seeing his young team growing up in a matter of 32 minutes, Steamboat won the first meeting on Saturday,

47-45 in overtime.



“We took some huge strides (Saturday),” Steamboat coach Luke DeWolfe said. “Regardless of our age or class we played like seniors and really stepped up. We played with lots of heart and desire. This is a huge step for us.”

In a game that saw four ties and five lead changes, Steamboat found the key mismatch down the stretch.

Steamboat senior Alex Wood found a matchup he liked in the overtime period and scored all four of Steamboat’s points. His layup with 1 minute, 1 second left in the extra frame gave Steamboat a 47-45 lead.

Glenwood came back and had every chance to tie the game up. Kevin Screen missed a tough turnaround jumper with six seconds left in overtime and Jordan Ciani couldn’t handle the rebound.

“Steamboat is tough anytime you come up to their house,” said Glenwood coach Greg Hire, whose team was coming off a 72-62 overtime win on Friday against Moffat County. “That’s something we’ve always struggled with on the Western Slope is the back-to-backs. It was a very tough game and the kids exerted a lot of energy (Friday). To come back and do it again, that gets tough.”

Glenwood jumped out to its biggest lead of the game at 7-0. Steamboat responded and tied the game up at 11 after one quarter.

The Sailors (9-5 overall, 6-0 league) took their biggest advantage midway through the second quarter when the team went up 19-11. The Demons started the third quarter on fire and quickly turned a four-point deficit into a 32-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Steamboat battled back and tied the game at 34 and took the lead on a Nelson Brassell 3-pointer. The Sailors looked like they’d win the game in regulation before the Demons’ Dakota Stonehouse hit a wide open 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining to tie the game at 43. Steamboat’s Charles Wood just missed a 3 of his own as the buzzer went off before overtime.

In the extra frame, Glenwood scored first, before Wood made a pair of free throws and a layup to give the Sailors the lead for good.

“This is the most fun game we’ve played all year,” Wood said. “Just an opportunity to play a team like that and go into overtime is a jolt of energy.”

Screen paced the Demons with 19 points, while Patrick Hailey scored 11.

Brassell led Steamboat with 20 points, while Alex Wood chipped in 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Big first quarter paces Demon girls to victory

Now it’s just a matter of getting over the proverbial hump for the Steamboat Springs girls basketball team.

For the second game in two days, Steamboat had every opportunity to win but couldn’t. This time, Glenwood Springs used a big first quarter and distinct advantage at the free-throw line to beat Steamboat, 57-48, on Saturday.

“It was a lot of different things that did us in collectively,” Steamboat coach John Ameen said. “We get down, claw back but don1t get over the hump.”

If Steamboat was to look where the game was mainly lost, it happened in the first quarter.

The Demons jumped out to a 19-9 lead behind 17 points from Laura Young and Katrina Selsor.

“The mindset coming in was we weren’t prepared and we came out lazy (Friday),”

Glenwood coach Bryan Derby said about Friday’s loss to Moffat County. “We came out and played one heck of a ball game (Saturday). That’s the one thing we wanted to do was get out to a fast start.”

Selsor led Glenwood with 24 points, 13 rebounds and six steals. Gracie Stockdale paced the Sailors with 27 points and nine rebounds.

Glenwood next plays Tuesday against Rifle. Steamboat plays at 6 p.m. Tuesday at home against league-leading Moffat County.


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