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Devils basketball wins up at Steamboat tourney

STEAMBOAT — That is an unusual, but terrific double-double.

Eagle Valley’s Dawson Keller had 12 rebounds and 10 blocks as the Devils ran their record to 5-0 with a 67-59 win against Montrose on Thursday at the Steamboat Springs Shootout.

Keller is listed at 6-foot-6, which obviously makes him a big man. However, getting the senior to play big is a plotline for the winter. And 12 boards and 10 swats certainly qualifies as playing big.



While the Devils struggled, by comparison to its first four games against smaller-sized schools, they still showed that inside-outside balance that has Eagle Valley fans excited.

Arturo Loera heated up for 23 points, including five 3s. He got the Devils rolling late in the first half. Jesus Loera had a more conventional double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Jimmy Murphy chipped in 12 points.

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Next up for the Devils is Northridge, which plays an uptempo style, tonight at 6:30 as the Shootout continues. The Grizzlies put up 105 points in a win over Roosevelt on Thursday.

Will the scoreboard’s light bulbs pop if both Eagle Valley and Northridge play the way they like?

“Northridge is long at every position,” Devils coach Chris Walls said. “They like to push the pace. I’d be surprised if they don’t make a deep run into state.”

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS

Devils girls beat Centennial

Welcome to the early-season phase of the basketball season known as “Looking to put Four Quarters Together.”

The good news for Eagle Valley girls basketball is that it still picked up a 53-48 win over Pueblo Centennial on Thursday night during the first round of the Steamboat Springs Shootout without achieving the aforementioned goal.

“I like the moments of the game where we played closer to our potential,” Devils coach Sam Bartlett said.

Those would include a 22-8 first quarter and as much as a 20-point lead in the second half before a slew of turnovers allowed Centennial back into the game.

The Devils (4-1) meet up with Moffat County tonight at 8:15. The Bulldogs, as always, pose a challenge, having made the 3A state tournament last year.

LAKEWOOD

Central tops Huskies

Battle Mountain boys basketball suffered its first loss of the season during Thursday night’s opener at the Paul Davis Classic, falling to Central, 65-53.

After making the 4A playoffs last season, the Warriors are off to a 4-0 start this season, if anyone is thinking rating-percentage index thoughts.

After winning the Vail Christian Tip-Off Tournament last weekend, the Huskies’ goal was to improve its defense. There was some progress.

“At times, we played great defense,” Huskies coach Philip Tronsrue said. “We’d be playing good defense for 35-40 seconds, and made them take a shot, but they would get the offensive rebound. It’s little things.”

Devin Huffman led Battle Mountain (2-1) with 19 points. Miles Joersz was right behind him with 17.

The Huskies face Erie today at 3:30 p.m.

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


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