Eli Pace / epace@skyhinews.com
Middle Park is on a roll with the boys basketball team downing its third straight opponent on Tuesday and raising the team’s record to 7-2 overall and a perfect 4-0 in Frontier League play.
Tied at the half vs. Lake County, Middle Park took over in the third quarter and, with a strong fourth quarter on top of it, won 64-46 Tuesday at home.
“I thought we did a good job of grinding out a hard fought win,” coach Todd Williams said after the game.
He was especially happy with senior Akram Hanna, whose strong defensive effort and high energy helped spark the team in the second half. The victory was Middle Park’s third in a row after the Panther boys beat West Grand at home Jan. 20 and then Bruce Randolph 74-48 Saturday in Denver.
Against Bruce Randolph, Seth Holestine led the team with 21 points, followed by Alec Laraby with 20 points, including five 3-pointers, and five rebounds. Cameron Kirwan (12 points) and Evan Laraby (11 points, 8 rebounds) also propelled the Panthers over the weekend.
Middle Park was set to play at Bennett on Thursday before matching up with Arrupe Jesuit in another road game Saturday. Coming home next week, the team will face The Academy on Wednesday and Platte Canyon on Feb. 7.
Trail blazing
Middle Park recorded 23 team steals in a girls basketball game against Lake County Tuesday night in Granby as the Panthers cruised to victory 44-8.
Junior Katie Trail led the team with 19 points and seven rebounds. She also tied for the team-high in steals with Jenna King and Brianna Renteria, who had four each. Middle Park’s Abby Kuhnel added nine points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
On Saturday, the Panthers put together another decisive victory by defeating Bruce Randolph 58-18 on the road. Eight Panthers scored in the game, including seven with six points or more.
In this game, Trail was just shy of a triple-double with 14 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds and six steals. Senior Briana Baker also put together a nice clip of stats with eight rebounds, six points and six assists.
Like the boys team, Middle Park’s girls were set to play Bennett on Thursday before squaring off with Arrupe Jesuit this weekend. Both games are away. The team returns home for games vs. The Academy on Wednesday and Platte Canyon on Feb. 7.
Mustang update
The Rangely girls basketball team won Friday’s home conference game against West Grand 36-33. It was the Mustangs’ second close loss in as many games after falling to Paonia 45-41 on Jan. 18. The West Grand boys also lost to Rangely on Friday. The Mustang boys came out strong and took a two-point lead into halftime, but Rangely responded in the second half to win 54-43. West Grand faces Vail Christian on the road Friday and then Hayden at home on Saturday.