Prep notebook: Battle Mountain’s new basketball coach is invested in program’s improvement
Former Husky Rudy Ybarra is the third Battle Mountain boys basketball coach in the last three seasons.
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
It’s been a tough start to the 2023-24 season for the Battle Mountain boys basketball team, but they’re new coach said he’s invested in building it up.
“My roots are strong and my work ethic to improve this program is unmatched with any other candidate,” Rudy Ybarra — who took over for Joe Lundstrom this winter — said on Thursday, a day after the Huskies lost 70-29 to Aspen to fall to 1-10.
The 2011 Battle Mountain graduate witnessed 4-19 and 3-19 seasons, respectively, during his freshman and sophomore years. The 5-foot-8 guard helped the Huskies improve to 12-11 and 11-11 in his final two seasons. Since then, he’s spent several years coaching on the Front Range and the last six as an assistant to Phil Tronsrue and Lundstrom at Battle Mountain.
“Every game this season has been a learning experience for the entire program,” he said before adding that the last few games have been unusually low scoring for his squad.
“Lately, our shots that we made in the beginning of the season are not going in,” he said. “But we are still taking the same amount of shots, so our attempts are still there — just not connecting for two or three points.”
Support Local Journalism
Battle Mountain’s lone win came against Regis Groff on Dec. 2. A tough 57-52 overtime loss to Middle Park sent them into winter break. Since the new year began, they’ve dropped games to Grand Junction, Evergreen and Aspen.
“To help fix this losing streak, we are developing better practice habits and teamwork dynamics,” Ybarra said. “(We’re) improving the speed of the drills and instructing players to spend more time on working on all different basketball moves, rather than their most comfortable moves.”
Ybarra said he’s been leaning on the senior leadership of Cooper Skidmore and Max McFarlane while also giving next year’s seniors ample playing time so they’re ready to take over the reigns next year.
“I remind myself and my program that we all need each other. Without the players there is no coach,” Ybarra said. “So, every day I thank the players for being there during my time of trials and tribulations as a first year coach.”
Battle Mountain is back in action at Durango on Friday. They’ll return to Edwards for an I-70 rivalry match against Vail Mountain on Jan. 18.
The Battle Mountain girls basketball team defeated Basalt 47-27 on Wednesday to improve to 4-5 on the season. The Huskies also travel to Durango on Friday and won’t be back in their home gym until Jan. 23 against Eagle Valley.
Vail Christian falls to De Beque
Burke Largent dropped 26 points and Scottie Vines went 5-for-10 from the field to add 14 to lead De Beque over Vail Christian 69-55 in Edwards on Tuesday night. The Dragons went up 20-5 in the first quarter and outscored the Saints 14-3 in the third to build a 52-23 lead going into the fourth. The Saints scored 32 points in the final period to draw closer, but ultimately fell to 2-5 on the season.
Vail Christian will try to earn its first league win against Caprock Academy on Friday night in Edwards at 7:30 p.m.
Avery Rigsby scored 31 points to lead De Beque over the Vail Christian girls basketball team 63-14 on Tuesday night as well. The Saints (1-4) host Caprock Academy (5-3) on Friday at 6 p.m.
Eagle Valley boys are 3-1 in 2024
Eagle Valley lost to Pueblo Central 65-37 on Jan. 4 but has since defeated Fountain-Fort Carson 56-53 (Jan. 5), Skyview 62-29 (Jan. 6) and Moffat County 95-68 (Jan. 9) to improve to 7-5 on the year.
The Devils — who are ranked 17th in the 5A CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index — are yet to open league play, but will face a tough road test on Saturday against No. 16 Durango (6-4). Eagle Valley returns to Gypsum against No. 13 Grand Junction on Jan. 16.
