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Prep Basketball Roundup

Post Independent
Glenwood prings, CO Colorado

PEACH VALLEY, Colorado ” Eric Schmitz netted 40 points and hit 15 of his 20 free throws as Coal Ridge outlasted visiting Battle Mountain 96-80 in a double-overtime boys basketball thriller in Peach Valley on Friday.

The undefeated Titans improved to 5-0 by outscoring the 0-6 Huskies 18-2 in the final overtime.

Andy Smedra finished with 23 points for Coal Ridge, which hosts Gunnison today at 4 p.m. Alex Klein added 13 points and Nathan Terrin had seven.



Robert Weiss and Mitch Cooley scored 18 points apiece for Battle Mountain.

PEACH VALLEY, Colorado ” Coal Ridge’s girls basketball team held visiting Battle Mountain to just a single point in the first quarter and zero in the fourth in a 69-16 romp over the Huskies on Friday.



Morgan Jessup paced the Titans, now 4-1, with 15 points. Tori Verdieck and Ashlie Bowles chipped in with 12 apiece.

Hallie Hogfeldt led Battle Mountain (0-7) with five points.

MONTROSE, Colorado ” Rifle’s boys basketball team picked up a win in its first game of the Black Canyon Tournament in Montrose on Friday. The Bears beat Palisade 71-59 with sound defense and fast break points.

Rifle got out to an early 12-point lead in the first half, but Palisade worked that down to a six-point game early in the third quarter. Feeling the Bulldogs’ breath on their necks, the Bears pushed the lead up to 24 points to hold onto the win.

“Well, bottom line I think was our ability to get out on the break for easy baskets,” Bears head coach Chris Lowther said.

The Bears were able to get the lead to start the game due to the full-court trap.

Palisade started to figure the press out in the second half, but Rifle was just too strong to finish the game.

Today at 3:30 p.m., the Bears face Centauri, a team they don’t know much about, Lowther said.

The Bears were looking over game tape of Centauri Friday night to get ready for the matchup.

They play again at 8 p.m. against host Montrose to finish the tournament.

MONTROSE, Colorado ” Just like the boys, the Rifle girls won their Black Canyon Tournament opener over the Pueblo West Cyclones, taking the contest 43-32.

Rifle jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter, but maybe became a little too happy with that as they found themselves down by 10 closing in on halftime.

“Our defense came back,” Bears head coach Stephanie Heald said. “By the end of the first half we tied it at 22.”

Defense was the word of the second half for the Bears. Their defense slowed the Cyclones game down and, on offense, Rifle started working the ball better, Heald said.

Pueblo West only scored two points in the third quarter, and was down 36-24 heading into the fourth quarter. The Bears’ defense held strong, giving up only eight points in the final period.

Ciara Euler led the Bears with 15 points, and Makayla Wilkins added 10 more.

The girls face Montrose at noon today, with another game at 5 p.m. against Palisade.

PARACHUTE, Colorado ” Coming off poor shooting games against Cedaredge and Coal Ridge the Grand Valley Cardinals found the hoop against the Basalt Longhorns Friday, winning 76-34.

In the Cardinals last two games, both losses, they’ve shot just 29 and 32 percent from the floor.

“This was the first night we were running on all cylinders,” Cardinals head coach Mark Cowan said. “It’s fun to see them get on a little bit of a roll. They shot well and they defended really well. All five guys were working as a unit.”

Michael Shepard led the Cardinals with 22 points, followed by 12 points from Derek Witt and nine more from Tyler Radel. The Cardinals spread the ball around and had 10 players who tallied points.

Grand Valley will battle the Roaring Fork Rams today at 4 p.m. Cardinals assistant coach Roger Walters coached there for the last five years and he’ll be back on his old court.


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