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Saints boys basketball tops Hotchkiss; Meeker next

HOTCHKISS — Vail Christian’s Parker Poage did not have to walk home from Hotchkiss, which is good because it was really cold and snowy on Tuesday.

Poage missed the front end of a 1-and-1 late, but he and the defense came up big during the final 20 seconds of a 56-55 win over the Bulldogs in Hotchkiss in a gigantic 2A Slope win.

With the Olympics approaching, we remind you that style points are for figure skating and do not apply to road wins during the meat of a team’s conference schedule. Back to Poage, double-zero was a major reason the Saints were in this game in the first place. The host Bulldogs were up 13-6, including four 3s, with 5:21 left in the first quarter when coach Sheldon Kuhns called a timeout.



“We just buckled down and scratched and clawed our way back into it,” Kuhns said.

Poage was en fuego with Vail Christian’s 3-ball response to that of Hotchkiss’. The senior hit from downtown six times on his way to a team-high 24 points. Thus, he had a nice warm seat on the bus.

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Branden Currey ended with 14, while Ethan Ellsworth had 11.

“Our motto is that we’re going to work and outlast the other team,” Kuhns said. “We did it on the offensive end at times and we did on the defensive end at times. We made one more play than they did.”

And that’s a big win for the Saints (11-2 overall and 4-0 in the Slope). Hotchkiss was 10-3 and 4-0 entering Tuesday night. Along those lines, another mammoth game lies ahead on Friday when Meeker comes to town. The Cowboys are 11-3 and 6-0 and have won eight straight.

Hotchkiss

Saints girls fall to Hotchkiss

Meanwhile, the Vail Christian girls played what their coach, Doug Bruce, called “the best game we’ve played all year from a technical standpoint,” in a 53-42 loss at Hotchkiss.

“We didn’t score as many points as we should have,” Bruce said. “We created a lot of good shots and we handled their press well. Hotchkiss is a really good team. I was really pleased with our effort.”

Remy Beveridge poured in 20 points, while Kristen Currey had 18 for the Saints (6-6).

Vail Christian hosts Meeker at 6 and 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Edwards.

DELTA

Devils snap skid

The good Eagle Valley girls basketball team showed up Tuesday at Delta, as opposed to its evil twin.

The Devils snapped a three-game losing streak with a 53-46 win at Delta.

“They came out with such a different level of intensity. That’s the team I know and love,” Devils coach Sam Bartlett joked.

Mariel Gutierrez had a huge night with 16 points, eight steals and five assists. Taylor Martin had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The boys dropped a 70-44 decision to the Panthers.

Eagle Valley is at Battle Mountain today for games at 5:30 and 7 p.m.

Sports editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 and cfreud@vaildaily.com


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