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Vail Valley preps wrap for Friday

Chris Freud
Vail, CO Colorado

GYPSUM – Eagle Valley boys basketball ended up making a game of it against Palisade Friday night in Gypsum.

The Devils pulled within 41-33 after three quarters before falling to the Bulldogs, 61-45.

“The third quarter was a surprise for us,” Devils coach Pat Gabriel said. “The third quarter has been pretty rough for us. I was pleased with that.”



Zeth Ramsey led the Devils with 12 points, while Sam Lounsberry chipped in eight. Willie “Magic” Magdziuk also had eight points.

As has been the case for most of the season, turnovers stymied the Devils’ hopes for their first conference win of the season.

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“Our biggest problem is not handling the ball,” Gabriel said. “If you look at the stats, we’re fighting in so many areas. When you give up the ball, you make the rest of the fights so meaningless. You’re giving the opponent so many more chances.”

Bulldogs 54, Eagle Valley girls 30

A slow start against Palisade doomed the Eagle Valley girls basketball team to a 54-30 loss Friday night against the visiting Bulldogs.

“We struggled,” Devils coach Jamie Mayne said. “Where we really struggled was on the boards. But we played with pride in the fourth quarter.”

Hillary Schott and Kayla Gagnon led Eagle Valley with six points each. Cori Cramer, filling in at point guard for the injured Brenda Zapata, had a nice game and logged three points.

Both Eagle Valley teams are at Delta today.

Hayden 66, Vail Christian boys 52

Hayden 64, Vail Christian girls 32

HAYDEN – It was a tough night up north for Vail Christian basketball as Hayden swept the Saints Friday night.

In the boys’ game, Vail Christian had no answer for the Tigers’ Graig Medvesk who led all scorers with 30 points. The Saints did hold their own against Hayden, one of the best teams in the 2A Slope, cutting the Tigers’ lead to six points twice.

Granger Moch led the Saints with 16 points, while Larry Cavanaugh poured in 11. Point-guard Fernando Hernandez had 10 for Vail Christian.

The Vail Christian girls team also hung with the Tigers early before falling. Ashlyn Gruber had a team-high 13 points and McKenzie O’Brien was right behind with nine.

The Saints return home today for games against DeBeque.

Steamboat Pilot reporter Joel Reichenberger contributed to this report

Skiing

Zoch leads Devils

SKI COOPER – Does the Eagle Valley alpine team get FIS points for its giant slalom Friday?

Racing against club skiers from Aspen, Steamboat and Summit, the Devils may have a case to make. Nevertheless, Shanna Zoch continued her superb season, finishing 17th, making the state cut for the fourth time in as many races.

“Shanna is probably having her best season with us,” Devils coach Francois Nanin said. “Every week in GS or slalom, she qualifying and she never did that before.”

Another reason Nanin was happy with his team was the dramatic improvement between the first and second runs from his racers against a stacked field. On the boys’ side, Ian Bailey returned from an injury to be the team’s top finisher. Nanin said that with a few more races, Bailey might be in the running for state.

Eagle Valley’s next race is a slalom at Winter Park.

Hockey

Battle Mountain 1, Palmer 1

VAIL – Things are getting even tighter for Battle Mountain hockey in the Peak Conference race.

The Huskies (6-4-2) skated to 1-1 tie Friday night against Palmer at Dobson Arena.

The Terrors struck first early in the second on a short-handed goal by Kirk Vanarkel. Battle Mountain responded with an even-strength goal – Jack Sunderland from Chris Davis and Rudi Baldwin – with 6:52 left in the middle period.

Curtis Hart was stellar for the Huskies between the pipes with 21 saves on 22 shots.

Battle Mountain hosts Lewis-Palmer, a 7-1 winner Friday night against Cheyenne Mountain, tonight at 6 at Dobson.

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


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