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Preps: Momentum building for Aspen boys basketball; AHS ski season finally begins

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Austin Colbert

The Aspen High School boys basketball team's bench erupts in celebration after a dunk by Henry Hurd against Rifle on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, inside the AHS gymnasium.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

We’ve made it to roughly the midway point of the winter high school sports season (spring sports practices start Feb. 24, if you believe it). The postseason possibilities are materializing, so let’s get up to date on where teams stand as we enter a very busy stretch of contests.

Boys basketball

The Aspen High School boys basketball team is starting to find its rhythm as league play heats up. The Skiers have now won three straight games — all in the Class 4A Western Slope League — following back-to-back losses to begin 2025.

Now 9-3 overall (3-0 WSL), AHS should remain in the thick of the league title hunt the rest of the way. Most recently, the Skiers came away with a 53-41 home win over Coal Ridge on Tuesday night. Prior to that, Aspen beat Moffat County on Saturday (70-48) and Rifle on Friday (78-53), both at home.

The Skiers lost to Peak to Peak (44-41) and Holy Family (58-53) on the road in their first games back from the holiday break. They went into the hiatus at 6-1 overall, winners of six straight after a season-opening loss to Middle Park, 72-64 in overtime.

Aspen came into the week (as of Jan. 13) at No. 6 in 4A per the CHSAANow.com rankings, which are based on the seeding index that will determine qualification and postseason seedings. Peak to Peak is No. 1 in 4A, and Holy Family is No. 10. AHS does have wins over current No. 4 Lamar (45-40 on Dec. 13) and No. 8 Sterling (58-38 on Dec. 14).


Up next, the Skiers will host a struggling Steamboat Springs (2-9) at 7 p.m. on Friday. AHS then travels to Eagle Valley (11-2), ranked No. 8 in 5A, on Tuesday.

Basalt boys basketball is 5-5 overall and 1-0 in WSL play. The Longhorns are 2-1 since returning from the holiday break, beating Roaring Fork (56-43 on Jan. 4) at home, losing at Montrose (50-41 on Jan. 7), and beating Moffat County (80-64 on Jan. 10) at home. Montrose is ranked No. 4 in 5A this week.

Basalt, with help from a challenging schedule, was ranked No. 18 in the 4A seeding index as of Wednesday afternoon. The Longhorns next travel to Coal Ridge (5-4, 1-1) on Friday in a pivotal league game.

The Roaring Fork boys, playing out of Class 3A, are 7-3 overall and 2-0 in league play. After a loss at Basalt to open 2025, the Rams have back-to-back league wins over North Fork (53-45 on Jan. 10) and at Grand Valley (63-51 on Jan. 11). Ranked No. 18 in 3A this week per the seeding index, RFHS next hosts Cedaredge (2-7, 1-2 WSL) in a league game on Friday night.

Aspen High School’s Jack Berro dunks the ball in the boys basketball game against Rifle on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, inside the AHS gymnasium.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

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Girls basketball

Roaring Fork girls basketball remains undefeated as the heart of league play gets underway. A perfect 10-0 overall, the Rams are No. 5 in the 3A seeding index as of Wednesday afternoon.

Now 2-0 in league play with back-to-back wins over North Fork (68-34 on Jan. 10) and Grand Valley (54-31 on Jan. 11), the Rams will host fellow undefeated Cedaredge (9-0, 3-0, ranked No. 8) on Friday night in a game that could go a long way in deciding the league title.

The Aspen girls, playing out of the same 3A WSL as Roaring Fork, are 0-5 overall, most recently losing at home to Coal Ridge, 57-19, on Jan. 14. AHS next plays at Gunnison (5-5) on Friday.

The Basalt girls, playing out of the 4A WSL, are 2-9 overall. The Longhorns opened league play on Friday with a 36-26 home loss to Moffat County. They will play at Coal Ridge (3-6, 1-0) this Friday.

Hockey

Aspen hockey continues to search for its first win in its return to varsity play this winter. The Skiers (0-6 overall) lost back-to-back games at Durango to open 2025, losing 3-1 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday.

Up next, AHS will travel to Summit on Friday night before hosting Steamboat Springs on Saturday afternoon. The Skiers were ranked No. 18 out of 20 teams in the 4A seeding index as of Wednesday.

At No. 1 is Glenwood Springs, still officially unbeaten at 11-0-1 overall, a 1-1 tie with current No. 5 Cheyenne Mountain on Dec. 19 the only imperfection. The Demons aren’t scheduled to play again until hosting Aspen on Tuesday.

Skiing

Aspen’s Alpine ski season got underway on Thursday with a slalom at Loveland.

In the girls race, Battle Mountain won as a team with 165 points, followed in second by Aspen’s 162 points. Individually, Durango’s Mathilde Roskam won (1:44.03), with Aspen senior Darienne Kenny (1:46.32) and junior Rocksy Kroeger (1:47.07) finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the boys race, Steamboat Springs won with 173 points, followed in second by Durango’s 164 points, and in third by Aspen’s 160 points. Individually, AHS junior Thomas Robinson won the race (1:33.6), the only Skier in the top 10.

Next, there is a giant slalom scheduled for Friday at Beaver Creek. Aspen’s only home races this season will be the Feb. 20-21 Alpine state championships at Aspen Highlands.

Aspen’s Nordic ski season got underway on Friday at its home races near the high school, with the AHS boys and girls both finishing seventh as a team.

In the girls 5-kilometer classic, Lake County won with 221 points, followed by Summit’s 211 points. Aspen finished with 151 points. Individually, Vail Mountain’s Isla Elton won (19:12), while Aspen’s top finisher was Kate Goldfarb in eighth (21:41).

In the boys 5K classic, Summit won with 228 points, followed by Poudre’s 208 points. Aspen finished with 127 points. Individually, Summit’s Carter Niemkiewicz won (15:34.7), while Aspen’s top finisher was Dom DiMaria in 30th (19:58.1).

Nordic teams competed again on Wednesday at Spring Gulch near Carbondale, the second of six scheduled regular-season meets across the state. Lake County won the girls 5K skate race, while Aspen did not have any girls compete. Eagle Valley took the boys title, with AHS finishing 12th.

The season finale for Nordic will be the state championship meet hosted by Steamboat Springs on Feb. 27-28, followed by the state’s skimeister championships on March 4 at Ski Cooper and Tennessee Pass.

Wrestling

Basalt wrestling hosted a rare home tournament on Saturday, with the boys and girls teams each finishing second. Highlights for the BHS boys included Roaney Requeno winning at 126 pounds, Luca Del Cid winning at 150 pounds, and Herberth Requeno winning at 175 pounds.

In the girls tournament, Basalt’s Emely Mejia-Garcia, the team’s lone state qualifier from a season ago, won at 105 pounds.

The Longhorns also hosted Battle Mountain for a dual on Wednesday night, the BHS boys winning, 47-12. The BMHS girls won, 18-12, although Basalt won the lone contested matchup, a win for Roselynne Bernal-Rodriguez at 155 pounds. The Husky girls will host their Queen of the Mountain tournament on Saturday, with BHS scheduled to attend.

Regionals are scheduled for Feb. 7-8 at Grand Valley, with the state tournament taking place Feb. 13-15 in Denver.

Girls swimming

The Aspen girls swim team competed Saturday in a triangular at Glenwood Springs. The third team was Grand Junction, which won the meet with 260 points. Glenwood was second with 232 points, and Aspen was third with 56 points.

Taking to the pool for the Skiers were Mykenzie Roy, Edyn Roy, Maya Calle, Graceann Viola, and Sara Michelin. Aspen is scheduled to host its own meet, featuring Glenwood, on Friday at the Aspen Recreation Center.

The 3A state championships are Feb. 10-11 at the Veteran’s Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton.

acolbert@aspentimes.com

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