Delta coaches Luis Meza, center, and Clayton Curtis congratulate 152-pound senior Hunter Brasfield after an upset win sent him into the 4A Region 4 semifinals.
Hotchkiss senior Joe Boyle controls Ruben Chagoya of Basalt to win a 3A Region 1 title. He is one of 7 Hotchkiss state qualifiers.
Hotchkiss and Paonia boys will square off this week on the basketball courts. Both are 6-4 in league play.
Delta senior Brooke Taylor scores two of her 12 points against Summit after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Paonia 195-pounder Tyler “TK” Kendall sets Rangely’s Drew Collins up for a pin.
Paonia freshman Bo Pipher sets TJ Richard of North Park up for a pin in Saturday’s regional semifinal round. He is one of 13 Paonia wrestlers headed to state!
Surrounded by coaches and his dad, Conner Beard signs Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Nebraska Kearney.
Hotchkiss' Jacobe Galley signed a Letter of Intent to play football and study engineering at Colorado Mesa University.
Hotchkiss senior Cody Bartlett signed his National Letter of Intent to run cross-country for Hawaii Pacific University.
Photo by Wayne Crick Patti Chapman dribbles past the screen of Shelby Curtis during game action in Frisco against the Summit Tigers. Chapman scored four points and Curtis had nine in Delta’s 77-18 win over the Tigers.Two road games back to back did not deter the Lady Panthers of Delta. After losing their first three games of the season, Delta has reeled off seven straight victories.
Their latest wins came in Rifle (47-41) and in Frisco against Summit High School (77-18).
Skylyn Webb, one of the state's top 4A scorers, tossed in 18 points against the Lady Bears and poured in 30 counters against the Tigers.
Delta 47, Rifle 41
The Lady Panthers' first stop up the I-70 Corridor was in Rifle on Friday (Jan. 18).
Rifle was on a four-game winning streak coming into Friday's contest and jumped all over the visiting Lady Panthers for a 9-2 lead early in the opening quarter. Delta calmed down and managed to get its offense rolling and stopped key runs by the Bears with solid defense to post a 16-12 first-quarter lead. Callie Gafford was big in the first stanza with eight points, including four for four at the charity stripe. Six points came from Webb.
Senior Erin Zunich stepped up for the Panthers in the second quarter to score five points to keep Delta on top after an 8-7 advantage to Rifle. Delta was holding a 23-20 lead at halftime.
Not much happened offensively for either team, but the Lady Panthers, behind Webb's and Gafford's four points each, pushed their lead up by six with a 10-4 run.
Rifle outscored Delta in the final eight minutes, 17-14, but was unable to overcome a double-digit lead by the Panthers.
Webb and Gafford shared game-high scoring honors with 18 points each, with Zunich chipping in seven counters. Rifle's top scorer was Chante Church who finished with 16 points.
Delta's JVs lost to Rifle but beat Summit.
Delta 77, Summit 18
After an overnight stay in Rifle, the Lady Panthers drove another two-plus hours to Frisco for their 12 o'clock meeting with the Lady Tigers of Summit High School.
Summit, the 4A WSL cellar dweller, came into the conference meeting without a win (0-7) in league play and 1-11 overall.
Delta wanted to assert itself early in the game, but the Lady Tigers were playing well in the early going and had Delta on the ropes early.
Once Delta had shaken off the jitters and bus-lag, they erupted for big points to score a 21-9 advantage after one period. Webb was electric in the quarter with 12 points that came on a variety of shots.
Second-quarter play remained with Delta and its potent offense and stingy defense. The Lady Panthers raced to a 23-3 edge taking a 44-12 lead at the half. Webb held the hot hand once again with 10 points in the period.
The Delta defense limited Summit to just two points in the third quarter while its offense, behind Brooke Taylor's and Webb's five points each, steamed to a 17-2 surge.
Delta's bench finished the game with Katie Puderbaugh topping a number of Lady Panthers who scored with four points.
Webb had her season-high point totals with 30 counters coming on 11 field goals (10 two-pointers and one trey) and a 12-12 performance from the free throw line. Also hitting double figures for the Lady Panthers were Zunich and Gafford with 10 points each.
Kayce Chaparas had five points to lead the Lady Tigers on offense.
Delta faced Palisade on Tuesday (results to be found in next week's paper) and has a rematch with Rifle on Friday in Delta. That game is set for 6 p.m.
On Saturday, Delta will play the only other team they have not faced this year, Battle Mountain, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
