Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
BRECKENRIDGE — The Summit High School varsity boys and girls basketball teams worked their way to impressive home wins Tuesday night over Buena Vista, the boys winning 62-32 while the girls eeked out a 33-31 thriller.
In the boys game, Tigers head coach Jordan Buller felt his guys played a good team game all night. The Tigers were able to rotate guys in and get involved, as Summit’s defense worked continuously to create difficult shots for Buena Vista. Buller also felt the team did a good job of boxing out on the defensive end to allow only one shot per possession for Buena Vista.
On the offensive end, the Tigers moved the ball to find open shooters, a sign Summit has matured to be able to work together on both ends of the floor. Senior Ben Rider led the team’s balanced attack with 13 points while underclassman point guard Hector Diaz pushed the pace in the game. In the paint, Buller credited Cam Kalaf for finding buckets.
“It was a good start to the week for us,” Buller said. “With two big conference games left, it was nice to start the week with a solid win.”
With the victory, Summit improved its record to 5-6 on the season — the same number of wins the Tigers had all of last year. Summit next will play at 7 p.m. Thursday at home versus Eagle Valley.
Girls basketball
The Summit girls’ win over Buena Vista was the program’s first win against the strong 3A opponent since the 2006-07 season.
The Tigers were able to pull it off with a great offensive performance from senior captain Anna Tomlinson. She scored almost half of the Tigers’ 33 points, with 15 of her own, while also chipping in four rebounds and three steals.
Captain Karen Barrios continued a strong junior campaign, stepping up to guard Buena Vista’s best player, senior Many McFee, throughout the game. Barrios was able to hold the scorer to just two made field goals and five rebounds. On the other end, Barrios finished with six points, seven rebounds, one steal and two blocks.
With Barrios in the Tiger backcourt, senior captain Nicole Kimball excelled in playing a very unselfish game, finishing with eight assists, seven rebounds, five points, two blocks and a steal.
Tigers head coach Kayle Walker Burns said she felt the game was a bit too close down the stretch, as the Tigers struggled to convert front-ends of one-and-one free throw attempts. That said, Summit perservered and found a way to win.
“Discipline and confidence pushed us to finish with little to no turnovers in the last few minutes,” Burns said.
The win pushed the Tigers’ record to 4-6 on the season ahead of a home tilt versus rival Eagle Valley at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.