Steamboat Today: Hayden boys fall to Rangely; girls reach finals

Archive for Saturday, December 6, 2008

Hayden senior Zach Barnes lofts a shot over a pair of Rangely defenders Friday. Barnes found plenty of room to operate in the lane against the shorter Panthers and led all scorers with 19 points. It wasn't enough to keep the Tigers from their first loss of the season, however. Hayden fell, 55-52.

By Joel Reichenberger Saturday, December 6, 2008

Photo by Joel Reichenberger

Zach Barnes prepares to charge toward the hoop after hauling in an offensive rebound Friday against Rangely. Barnes scored 19 points in the team's 55-52 loss. The Tigers (1-1) return to action next week for a tournament in Meeker.

Photo by Joel Reichenberger

Jeremy Engle drives to try and score on a fast break Friday after the stole the ball in the second quarter of the 55-52 loss. Engle missed the shot but was fouled on the play and sank one of two free throws.

Rangely boys 55, Hayden 52

Rangely 13-16-13-13-55

Hayden 9-20-17-6-52

Rangely - Adam Dahl 6 1-2 15, Roman Chavez 6 1-1 13, James Herrera 3 1-1 7, Michael Morton 3 3-3 9, Blake Mecham 4 0-0 9, Kanden Brady 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 6-7 55.

Hayden - Zach Barnes 6 6-8 19, Murphy Smartt 1 3-4 6, Graig Medvesk 3 0-1 8, Jeremy Engle 4 2-3 11, Zach Engle 4 0-0 8. Totals 18 11-16 52.

3-pointers: Rangely (2) - Dahl 2. Hayden (4) - Medvesk 2, Smartt , J. Engle.

Dec. 2, Hayden 53, Vail Christian 51; (1-0, 1-0)
Dec. 5, Rangely 55, Hayden 52; (1-1, 1-0)
Dec. 11, Hayden 64, Altamont 55 at Meeker Tournament; (2-1, 1-0)
Dec. 12, Meeker 64, Hayden 46 at Meeker Tournament; (2-2)
Dec. 13, Hayden 57, Rangely 46 at Meeker Tournament; (3-2)(
Dec. 18, Hayden 63, Soroco 54; (4-2)
Dec. 20, Baggs, Wyo. 64, Hayden 43; (4-3)
Jan. 9, Hayden 59, West Grand 53; (5-3)
Jan. 10, Plateau Valley 59, Hayden 35; (5-4)
Jan. 17, Hayden 80, De Beque 50;(6-4)
Jan. 20, Meeker 56, Hayden 46;(6-5)
Jan. 23, Hayden 65, Paonia 33;(7-5)
Jan. 27, Hayden 64, Baggs 43;(8-5)
Jan. 30, Hayden 76, North Park 27;(9-5)
Jan. 31, Rangely 58, Hayden 53;(9-6)
Feb. 6, Meeker 73, Hayden 45;(9-7)
Feb 7, Hayden 43, Vail Christian 30;(10-7)
Feb. 13, Hayden 47, Soroco 42;(11-7)
Feb. 14, Hayden 76, North Park 42;(12-7)

Dec. 2, Hayden 54, Vail Christian 23; (1-0, 1-0)
Dec. 4, Hayden 58, Grand Valley 33 at Meeker Tournament; (2-0, 1-0)
Dec. 5, Hayden 49, Rangely 40 at Meeker Tournament; (3-0, 1-0)
Dec. 6, Hayden 59, North Park 37 at Meeker Tournament; (4-0)
Dec. 12, Hayden 73, Soroco 42; (5-0)
Dec. 13, Hayden 62, Rangely 44; (6-0)
Dec. 20, Hayden 48, Snake River 38; (7-0)
Jan. 9, Hayden 68, West Grand 43; (8-0)
Jan. 10 Hayden 66, Plateau Valley 44; (9-0)
Jan. 20, Hayden 53, Meeker 42; (10-0)
Jan. 23, Paonia 54, Hayden 49;(10-1)
Jan. 27, Hayden 66, Baggs 51;(11-1)
Jan. 30, Hayden 48, North Park 37;(12-1)
Jan. 31, Hayden 45, Rangely 42;(13-1)
Feb. 6, Hayden 50, Meeker 47;(14-1)
Feb. 7, Hayden 59, Vail Christian 22;(15-1)
Feb. 13, Hayden 55, Soroco 39;(16-1)
Feb. 14, Hayden 48, North Park 41;(17-1)

Hayden — The Hayden boys basketball team started and finished Friday night's game against Rangely the same way.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, that meant long scoreless streaks both early and late in the back-and-forth game undercut an otherwise strong effort. Hayden lost for the first time this season, 55-52.

"We play in spurts so bad. That's the weakness of the team," Tigers senior Zach Barnes said. "We came out and played bad, fixed it for awhile and smoked them, then they came back again."

Rangely erased an early fourth-quarter deficit and took the lead moments later thanks to a pair of steals and fast-break layups. Hayden senior Zach Engle scored to tie the game at 51, but the Tigers (1-1) could add only one point in the final three minutes.

A string of turnovers crippled the team as it failed to take advantage of several Rangely gaffes. Rangely's Adam Dahl scored on another fast break with 13 seconds remaining to stretch the lead to three.

"Both teams made mistakes there at the end, but we made a few shots to get ahead," Rangely coach Mark Skelton said. "We got that breakaway layup to go ahead by three and at the end didn't have to worry about them getting it inside on their last possession."

Hayden was turnover-prone and unnecessarily hurried in its weakest moments, but it was aggressive and powerful in its strongest.

Barnes was a force throughout the game and led all scorers with 19. He sank three straight free throws to help jumpstart Hayden from a 13-3 first-quarter hole, then scored 11 points in the third quarter as the Tigers pushed their lead to six points at 46-40.

"He had a height advantage and we were able to get the ball into him," Hayden coach Mike Luppes said. "They couldn't handle him so they kept fouling and he took advantage at the line. We got away from that more than we should have late in the game."

Senior Jeremy Engle added 11 points while Graig Medvesk and Zach Engle each had eight for Hayden.

Dahl led the Panthers (1-0) with 15 points, ahead of Roman Chavez's 13.

Girls into championship game

Hayden girls basketball senior Holli Salazar led the way Friday as the Tigers powered their way into the championship game of the Meeker Tournament. Hayden, thanks to a 49-40 win against Rangely, will play at 3:45 p.m. today in Meeker against either North Park or the host Cowboys.

"We have to take care of the ball better," Hayden coach Eric Hamilton said. "We also need to come out with a lot more intensity on defense."

The Tigers overcame those deficiencies in a tight game against Rangely. Salazar poured in 20, and the Tigers got eight points from Elaine Cromie off the bench.

"We really worked it inside to Holli a lot," Hamilton said. "We came out real flat and Rangely played a great game. We didn't play our best, but we got the win so we're on to the championship."