Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
BRECKENRIDGE — The Summit High School varsity girls basketball team ended a three-game losing skid on senior night at home Wednesday with a thrilling 37-33 win over rival Battle Mountain.
After a Tuesday night loss at home to Glenwood Springs (60-52), Summit head coach Kayle Walker Burns knew Wednesday’s back-to-back element would be a challenge for her team. Summit did start slow Wednesday night but managed to enter halftime with a two-point lead. Come the fourth quarter, the Tigers led by seven, but the Huskies battled back with a pair of 3-pointers to take a late lead.
Down against their rival, knowing the Huskies might stall offensively to hold onto the win, Burns encouraged her team to go for a steal instead of intentionally fouling. With that strategy, Summit’s intensity led to several steals to change the game around.
With a two-point lead, Summit then went into its own stall offense. After a few misses, Tigers freshman Paola Arredondo and senior Anna Tomlinson converted their free-throw attempts to increase Summit’s lead to four, a lead they held onto for the win.
The win over the Huskies improved the Tigers’ record to 7-9 and got Summit its first win over Battle Mountain since 2016. The Tigers had a balanced scoring output Wednesday, led by Arredondo’s nine points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field while senior point guard Nicole Kimball amassed eight steals.
“This is the first time my seniors have beat them at the varsity level, which was the icing on the cake for Senior Night,” Burns said.
The Tigers next play at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Battle Mountain.
Boys basketball
The Tigers boys varsity squad fought hard but fell Wednesday to the strongly executed offensive performance of rival Battle Mountain, 56-45.
Summit was led by a 13-point performance from junior point guard Hector Diaz, who controlled the pace for the Tigers in transition and in the half court. After entering the fourth quarter trailing by eight points, Summit scored 15 with seven players putting up points. But several missed free throws hurt Summit from closing the gap as Battle Mountain scored 18 fourth-quarter points.
After the loss, Summit’s current losing streak extended to three games ahead of a rematch at 7 p.m. Friday against Battle Mountain. The Tigers’ current record stands at 9-9.