Facing a test to keep pace with the leaders in the Western Slope League, the Roaring Fork girls basketball team dropped a closely contested 57-49 decision to the Basalt Longhorns on Friday night in Carbondale.
“How we come back from this is what will define us as a team,” said Jade Bath, Roaring Fork’s Head Coach. “We knew coming into this game that Basalt was much improved.”
With a tough end of season slate of games looming, the Rams got all they could handle from the spirited Longhorns, who came out launching 3-pointers and connected on five of the long ball attempts to stake themselves to a 28-24 halftime lead.
Juniors Zoe Vozick and Riley Webb each hit a couple 3-pointers for the Longhorns, with sophomore Gracie Reardon chipping in with two treys of her own.
Roaring Fork countered with first quarter baskets from seniors Gabriela Santana, Kendall Bernot, Logan Erickson, and junior Caroline Wisroth. The tight affair between the two valley rivals was knotted at 10-all after the first eight minutes.
Basalt gained its biggest lead of the evening at 26-17 midway through the second period, but with Santana hitting a couple buckets and Erickson dropping in a 3-pointer, the Rams were able to close the gap prior to the half.
Reardon’s third 3-pointer of the game from deep in the left corner gave Basalt a 33-26 edge in the third. Bernot drove hard to the basket and answered Reardon’s hoop, but the Longhorns went on a mini-scoring run featuring another 3-pointer and a basket from Reardon, and a short jumper from Vozick to take a 40-30 lead with one quarter left to play.
Junior Emma Day banked in a straight-on shot for Basalt to start the fourth. Bernot, Wisroth, and sophomore Maya Lindgren then hit baskets for the Rams as the near-capacity crowd began to get loud with the score 42-37 in favor of the Longhorns with 5:54 left in the game.
Basalt then went on a decisive 7-0 run with two baskets by Webb, including another trey, and a baseline running banker by Vozick as the visiting Longhorns, and time, became an insurmountable obstacles for Roaring Fork.
Late 3-pointers from Erickson and Bernot drew the Rams within 52-46 with 41.2 seconds to play, but that was as close as the home team would get.
“The biggest thing for me as a player is taking games like tonight and learning from it,” said Bernot. “These next two weeks to end the season are big for us. We need to play with trust and confidence in each other.”
Leading the way for Basalt was Reardon with 19 points, Vozick with 15 points, and Webb with 11 points. The Rams were topped by Erickson’s 18 points. Bernot tallied 11 points, and Santana and Wisroth went for 8 points each.
Roaring Fork was without the services of starting junior guard Emily Broadhurst on the night.
The Rams (10-5, 3-2 WSL), are off until next Friday night when they host Cedaredge.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Roaring Fork 64, Basalt 40
Facing the rival Basalt Longhorns, the Roaring Fork Rams boys basketball team picked up an important Western Slope League win by a count of 64-40 on Friday evening at home.
The Rams were in command for most of the first half, taking charge of things by outscoring Basalt 14-7 in the second quarter of play to take a 30-18 halftime lead.
Seniors Mikel Mayo and Leo Loya opened the game for Roaring Fork with 3-pointers, and fellow senior Aidan Sloan scored in the paint to jumpstart the Rams to an 8-2 lead.
Brian Granados and Trevor Reuss would both hit 3-pointers for Basalt, and senior Jake Reardon converted a conventional 3-point play as the Longhorns trailed 16-11 after one period.
Using excellent ball movement on the offensive end, Roaring Fork’s big second quarter started with senior Ronald Clemente hitting a 3-pointer from the left corner and Mayo dropping in a layup on an assist from Sloan to increase the home team’s lead to 10 points at 21-11. Ram junior Frankie Harrington got into the scoring act with a 3-pointer and a free throw to up the Roaring Fork lead. Jackson Rappaport scored on a backdoor layup for Basalt and Reardon scored underneath for the visitors to close the half with the Longhorns down 30-18.
Playing their second game in a row without injured post Joe Salinas, Roaring Fork burst out of the locker room by scoring the second half’s first 8 points to take a 38-18 lead. In the scoring run, Sloan hit a basket underneath with Pietch and Loya each knocking down 3-pointers. Basalt pulled to within 44-29 late in the third period on a driving layup by Reardon, but the crafty Rams, under the direction of veteran Head Coach Larry Williams, consistently hit timely shots while spreading the court to salt away the conference win.
In the scoring column, balance was the order of the day for the Rams as Pietch led the way with 16 points. Mayo, Loya, and Clemente all chipped in with 10 points. Sloan had 7 points to go along with 12 rebounds.
Roaring Fork (8-6, 4-1 WSL) hosts Cedaredge next Friday night in Carbondale.