Prep notebook: Eagle Valley boys fall to Lewis Palmer, West Grand tops Vail Christian girls
Devils and Saints see seasons come to an end in first round of playoffs
Isabella Almanza/Courtesy photo
The Eagle Valley boys basketball team saw its season come to an end Wednesday night. The No. 27-seeded Devils fell to No. 6 Lewis-Palmer 82-71 in the first round of the 5A state tournament. The Devils were neck and neck with the Rangers throughout the entire game, trailing 27-24 at halftime and 50-44 at the end of the third quarter.
“We came up a little a short but we feel great about it. We played our best game of the season,” said head coach Justin Brandt.
“We had multiple seniors have the best games of their careers and when it came down to it, Lewis-Palmer made free throws when they needed to.”
The Devils high-intensity defense gave Lewis-Palmer problems and forced them out of their normal offensive system. But the Rangers went 13-for-14 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter alone. Gunther Soltvedt drained seven 3-pointers to score 23 points. Nikko Von Stralendorff and Branden Villalobos both added 16 points.
“Those three were really unstoppable,” Brandt said of his three seniors. Cohen Edmondson led the Rangers with 26 points.
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“They finished strong. They’re a solid team,” Brandt added of Lewis-Palmer, which will go on to face No. 11 Longmont. Eagle Valley ended its season with an 11-12 overall record and 4-2 league mark.
“Our seniors had a wonderful exit to their season — hats off to them — and I’m looking forward the future and the off-season program with the rest of the guys,” Brandt said.
The Vail Christian girls basketball team also saw its season come to a close this week. The No. 5 Saints lost to No. 4 West Grand 39-20 in the opening round of the 2A District 5 tournament on Tuesday. Vail Christian finished with a 6-12 overall record and 1-7 league mark.
