La Veta bests Sanford



SANFORD — The La Veta High girls basketball team fast and furious and turned back host Sanford,49-36. The Redskins led 27-24 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter, but were unable to get control on the scoreboard.

Tori Mortensen did her part to try and lead the Indians back, scoring 14 points and pilfering five steals for the game, but it was not to be in this Southern Peaks League clash of titans.

In the end it was the defensive intensity by the Redskins and their ability to fend the Indians off whenever Sanford tried to make a run. Untimely turnovers didn‚'t help the Indians cause, either.



Centauri holds of Del Norte

DEL NORTE — Defense is the name of the game for the Centauri High girls' basketball program. And yes, the Falcons' defense does travel. It's not just effective in the friendly confines of the Centauri Middle School gymnasium. The end result Friday against the host Del Norte Tigers was a 65-34 non-conference decision.

Del Norte was able to handle the pressure initially, as the score was knotted at 15-15 at the end of the first stanza. Centauri head coach Dave Forster, however, hasn't reached the 300-plus wins plateau by pure luck. His Falcons teams are well-known for their press and the veteran coach continually inserted fresh players to apply the type of full-court pressure that wears down opposing offenses.

"The press worked well for us," Forster said."Del Norte did a good job of handling our pressure in the first quarter. But I played a lot of people and that's what we're working on at this point of the season.

"We're going to try and get our starters a little more rested going intothe fourth quarter. And all of the girls did a good job running the press."

All the Falcons did was limit the Tigers to 19 points for the remaining three quarters after the first.

In the process, Taylor Wilson dropped 12 points to lead all scorers, while Donna Mae Garcia added 10 points. Brandi Crowther and Joanna Williams added nine points each.

Centauri improved its record to 7-4 overall and has a tough week ahead. The Falcons go to Pagosa Springs on Tuesday and face Monte Vista on Thursday.

Pressure defense is what Centauri girls basketball is all about.



Moffat wins big over Primero

PRIMERO— The Moffat High School girls basketball team used stellar efforts from Brenna Hunter and Stephanie Spurlock to race by host Primero on Friday afternoon at the Richard C. ArguelloGymnasium, 58-19.

In doing so, the Cowgirls ran their overall record to 7-4 and league mark to 5-4.

Hunter, a 5-foot-11 sophomore post player, scored 17 points, while junior Spurlock added 12. Teammates Megan Black and Amanda Ryker added seven points each.

"We just came out and played really well," Moffat head coach Will Shellabargersaid. "One of the other keys was that we only turned the ball over 10 times. Primero's a really young team, but we were able to get the ball inside to Brenna and she did a good job once she had the ball in there."