Steamboat Springs — Green River shut down Steamboat’s girls basketball team, 63-33, in the consolation game of the 10th annual Steamboat ShootOut on Saturday afternoon.

The Sailors’ loss, following a 42-25 victory against Summit on Thursday and a 37-74 defeat against D’Evelyn on Friday, netted them fourth place in the tournament.

While D’Evelyn is ranked No. 4 in the state, and it was good for the Sailors to face-off against some tough teams during the Steamboat ShootOut, coach John Ameen was not pleased with the magnitude of his team’s losses.

“I’m not sure if D’Evelyn is 30 points better than us. I’m even less sure that Green River is 30 points better than us,” Ameen said.

Similar to Steamboat’s loss to D’Evelyn the previous day, Green River’s full-court press seemed to overwhelm the Sailors, leaving them frantic for opportunities to get to the basket.

Green River decisively pulled away in the second quarter, with a lot of help from standout sophomore Sarah Pickle, who netted 13 points in those eight minutes alone. Steamboat’s sloppy ball-handling and over-eager shooting continually gave the green light to Green River, who outscored the Sailors 27-8 in the second quarter.

The Sailors, who barely were able to drive to the basket, were scoreless for nearly five minutes in the second quarter. The Wolves rang up more than 20 points while Steamboat struggled, stuck with eight points, until junior Colleen King and senior Brittany Long finally were able to put some numbers back on the home side of the board, finishing out the half at 15-41.

King and Long stepped up under pressure, but the team as a whole has work to do, Ameen said.

“The glaring thing from today was just their press,” Ameen said. “It showed us what we need to be doing at half-court to get offensively where we need to be, and get some better quality shots.”

“We really need to slow down our offense, and see shots,” King said.

With many of their starters taking a break on the bench, the Wolves struggled a bit in the fourth, going without a field goal until more than four minutes into the quarter. Still, Green River started the final quarter with a dominating 26-point lead the Sailors couldn’t dream of topping.

Green River’s win Saturday gave them the third-place finish in the tournament. The Wolves beat Castle View, 51-48, on Thursday, but lost to Montrose, 25-51, on Friday.

– To reach Melinda Dudley, call 871-4203 or e-mail mdudley@steamboatpilot.com