Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
FRISCO — The Summit High School boys and girls basketball teams defeated the Palisade Bulldogs on the road Saturday to 7-6 and 6-6, respectively.
The boys team’s 47-45 win over Palisade followed up a 71-60 win at home over Eagle Valley on Thursday. On Thursday Jan. 23, Tigers coach Jordan Buller said the Devils were an interesting matchup as they liked to get up and down the floor and shoot 3-pointers.
That said, Summit was able to match Eagle Valley’s pace and get enough stops to come out with a good win at home. Down the stretch, Buller credited the Tiger backcourt of Hector Diaz and Ben Rider for doing a great job of handling the ball.
Cam Kalaf did well finding some baskets inside the paint for the Tigers to lead Summit with six rebounds. Beyond the arc, Nazarie Poliuk shot the ball well and ended with a game-high of 21 points.
“The fans and atmosphere in the gym really helped us sustain our level of play through the second half,” Buller said.
As for Saturday, Buller said both teams played great defense in the first quarter before Diaz really stepped up and found good opportunities to score. By half, the Tigers had built a seven-point lead, and were able to hold on through most of the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Buller felt the Tigers had a few too many turnovers. However, Summit was able to knock down enough free throws to hold on for the one-possession win.
“Our bench really played a big part,” Buller said, “with Kobe Cortright hitting a huge basket in the fourth quarter and Marcus Popoff grabbing six rebounds.”
Summit will next play at home at 7 p.m. Tuesday night, Jan. 28, versus Rifle. Summit’s home game versus Battle Mountain, postponed from last week, was rescheduled for senior night on Feb. 5.
The Tigers girls continued their march to their first winning record in years by winning 40-26. Summit was powered by a 14-8 scoring advantage in the second quarter followed by a 19-11 advantage in the second half.
The Tigers were led by the energy of senior captain Nicole Kimball (eight points, eight assists, eight rebounds) and senior Anna Tomlinson (seven points, nine rebounds).
Summit will next play at home versus Rifle at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31.
Alpine skiing
The Tigers boys and girls finished in fifth and fourth, respectively, at Friday evening’s slalom competition at Copper Mountain Resort.
Competing against a loaded field, sophomore Jenna Sheldon finished in third place with a total combined two-run time of 1:25.61. The Tigers’ other top skiers were sophomore Paige Peterson (ninth, 1:28.41) and senior Abby Schierholz (19th, 1:32.68).
On the boys side, senior Thomas Francis led the way (21st, 1:39.72), followed by fellow seniors Sully Wheeler (22nd, 1:40.49) and River Mentch (23rd, 1:40.66).
Nordic skiing
At their second competition of the season this weekend at Tennessee Pass, the Summit boys and girls Nordic ski team finished in eighth and sixth, respectively.
On the 5-kilometer skate course, the Summit girls were led by Maclean Donovan’s 20th-place finish in a time of 19:48.5. The Tigers’ other top girls skiers were Katherine Puc (25th, 20:11) and Paige Wescott (20:27.5).
In the boys race, Christian Skowron was the top Tiger skier (33rd, 17:10.5) followed by Evan Callahan (38th, 17:21) and Liam Goettleman (40th, 17:31).
Wrestling
Saturday at the Commander Invitational, Summit’s Gio Marquez finished in third place in the 113-pound weight class. Marquez took third by defeating teammate P.J. Trujillo with a fall at 17 seconds. The two Tigers were the team’s best finishers at the meet.
Hockey
A 5-4 loss on Saturday at home versus Chaparral dropped the Summit varsity hockey team’s record to 8-4 on the season. Max Bonenberger scored twice for the Tigers, as Mark Bellavance and Ranger Stone each added a goal.
In net, Jake Mallory stopped 35 of 40 shots. The Tigers led 4-1 10 minutes into the second period before Chaparral reeled off four unanswered goals in the third period. Summit next plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31, at Steamboat Springs.
Swimming & diving
At their home meet versus Kent and Conifer on Thursday, Jasmine Laube won the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Hannah Anderson won the 100 backstroke and Logan Simson won the 200 individual medley. The Tigers won the 200-freestyle relay and the 200-medley relay.