EDWARDS \u2014 Boring, perfunctory, tidy.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re a No. 1 seed in a tournament, boring, perfunctory and tidy are good words. Vail Christian boys basketball, having earned the No. 1 seed in the District 5 Tournament for the first time, just matter-of-factly took care of business on Tuesday night at the Wheeler Athletic Center, dispatching Rangely, 78-40, during the district quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
When you have the No. 1 on your collective back, you want no part of Virginia-University of Maryland-Baltimore County. By advancing to the district semifinals, the Saints punched their ticket to the 2A state tournament. The next job is to win the District 5 Tournament in DeBeque this weekend to earn home court for the first two rounds of state.<\/p>\n
The Saints take on Meeker on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in Colbran.<\/p>\n
And in the keeping-it-boring theme, Tuesday\u2019s victory gave Saints coach Sheldon Kuhns the 200th win of his career,<\/a> so it was a jolly evening for all involved.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s special,\u201d Kuhns said. \u201cI got a lot of texts from the alumni, saying congratulations. Full circle, though, we got a playoff win tonight. That\u2019s the most important thing for all the guys who went before when it was so hard to get there. I\u2019m not sentimental, but it chokes me up a little. I\u2019m more happy for the guys, though.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuhns being Kuhns also wanted shoutouts to his former and current assistants, so cheers to Rick Pearson, Todd Ellsworth, Doug Bruce, Patrick Beaudine and J.C. Moritz.<\/p>\n The Saints (14-6) started with slick passing Tommy O\u2019Neil to Alec Moritz and E.J. Koller to O\u2019Neil. Zack McKeever knocked down a few 3s. Moritz ended the first with a 3 and Vail Christian led 19-9 after one quarter and never looked back.<\/p>\n The following is nitpicking, but the postseason is a time for such. Coach Kuhns probably would like to have seen stouter defense during the second quarter and an earlier putting away of the Panthers. Against high-level opponents \u2014 say, like Meeker \u2014 when you have an advantage, press it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talked about how we can no longer have an off quarter,\u201d Kuhns said. \u201cWe can have an off possession, but no more off quarters for the rest of the season. Big picture, that was one of our more complete games of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n In fairness, the Saints did put down the hammer during the third quarter and capped it with a 3-point shooting exhibition from Hayden Sticksel, who lit up the crowd and the Vail Christian bench.<\/p>\n Vail Christian girls basketball will have to take the long way to the state tournament after falling to Rangely, 54-44, during the District 5 Tournament quarterfinals Tuesday night in Edwards.<\/p>\nRecommended Stories For You<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Saints girls fall to Panthers<\/h2>\n