News
WALDEN — We'd like to take a little timeout here to remind everyone that the Vail Christian girls basketball team does, indeed, exist.
The Saints are merely in the process of playing seven of nine games on the road since before the Christmas break. They will return to the delightful gym on Highway 6 come Saturday after next.
“We are not a mirage,” Vail Christian coach Doug Bruce joked.
No they're not and they picked up another big win on the road Thursday night, defeating North Park, 44-33. With the victory, the Saints (7-7), who play in the 2A Slope, but head down to 1A for the postseason, have all but clinched the top spot in districts.
The bigger picture from Thursday's game is that the Saints are starting to put up some points, an area in which they have struggled earlier in the season. The usual suspects — Ashlyn Gruber (14 points), McKenzie O'Brien (12), and Kylie Alexander (eight) — did a lot of the damage, but keep your eye on Paris Baker, who had eight, and Kristen Currey (four).
“I think our seniors are playing really well, but one of the biggest things is Kristin and Paris,” Bruce said. “We not asking for them to score a huge amount, but getting 10 points out of them is important. They've worked really hard to get to that point, and that really helped us.”
In Game 2, the guys picked up a 74-54 win against the Wildcats. Vail Christian zipped out to a 23-12 first-quarter lead, heeding coach Sheldon Kuhns' theme of resiliency after a dispiriting 88-72 loss to Hayden Tuesday.
With the Saints without posts Zach Linder and Kevin Boselli, Branden Currey was the hero with eight points and 10 rebounds. Also stepping up was Austin Ellsworth with 13 points, including three 3-balls.
Robby Bowles led the Saints with 23, while Fernando Hernandez ended with 15 and Nigel Johnsen pitched in nine.
“Our first quarter was huge,” Kuhns said. “We were resilient. We did a really good job with our full-court pressure, and that led to good transition. We're still in a little bit of a lull defensively, but we're missing two of our interior defensive players.”
The Vail Christian boys (7-6) are home for DeBeque Saturday at 1 p.m., while the ladies continue their nomadic existence at Soroco on Tuesday.
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 or cfreud@vaildaily.com.
The Saints are merely in the process of playing seven of nine games on the road since before the Christmas break. They will return to the delightful gym on Highway 6 come Saturday after next.
“We are not a mirage,” Vail Christian coach Doug Bruce joked.
No they're not and they picked up another big win on the road Thursday night, defeating North Park, 44-33. With the victory, the Saints (7-7), who play in the 2A Slope, but head down to 1A for the postseason, have all but clinched the top spot in districts.
The bigger picture from Thursday's game is that the Saints are starting to put up some points, an area in which they have struggled earlier in the season. The usual suspects — Ashlyn Gruber (14 points), McKenzie O'Brien (12), and Kylie Alexander (eight) — did a lot of the damage, but keep your eye on Paris Baker, who had eight, and Kristen Currey (four).
“I think our seniors are playing really well, but one of the biggest things is Kristin and Paris,” Bruce said. “We not asking for them to score a huge amount, but getting 10 points out of them is important. They've worked really hard to get to that point, and that really helped us.”
In Game 2, the guys picked up a 74-54 win against the Wildcats. Vail Christian zipped out to a 23-12 first-quarter lead, heeding coach Sheldon Kuhns' theme of resiliency after a dispiriting 88-72 loss to Hayden Tuesday.
With the Saints without posts Zach Linder and Kevin Boselli, Branden Currey was the hero with eight points and 10 rebounds. Also stepping up was Austin Ellsworth with 13 points, including three 3-balls.
Robby Bowles led the Saints with 23, while Fernando Hernandez ended with 15 and Nigel Johnsen pitched in nine.
“Our first quarter was huge,” Kuhns said. “We were resilient. We did a really good job with our full-court pressure, and that led to good transition. We're still in a little bit of a lull defensively, but we're missing two of our interior defensive players.”
The Vail Christian boys (7-6) are home for DeBeque Saturday at 1 p.m., while the ladies continue their nomadic existence at Soroco on Tuesday.
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 or cfreud@vaildaily.com.
