Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Andrew Johnston scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half, and Danny Weber added eight points and six rebounds, as the Sailors defeated the visiting Palisade Bulldogs, 46-32 Friday night.

It was the first league game of the season for Steamboat, which improved to 8-0 overall.

Johnston, who led his team with five points at halftime, scored the opening six points of the third quarter. He made a pair of three-pointers that gave his team a 37-20 lead at the 6:43-mark.

The Bulldogs managed only 11 points by halftime, and their leading scorer was shut down by an aggressive defense.

Garrett Swank, who finished with 12 points, was 0-7 from three-point land. Eight of his 12 points came from the foul line.

Chase Spaid, the team's other go-to-guy, was held in check, also. He finished on 2-7 shooting and ended with 10 points.

Rusty Eck had seven points and six rebounds for the Sailors and Johnston had eight rebounds.

Spaid said his team played well defensively despite losing the game.

Sailors coach Kelly Meek said his team showed patience on offense after rushing its shots early on. Steamboat led Palisade 7-4 after the first quarter.

Meek was impressed at the play of his team under the basket, he said.

"I really felt we rebounded well," Meek said. "(Palisade) just didn't get any offensive put backs."

Jeff Aragon, who was 2-4 from the free-throw line, did an excellent job of not allowing Swank to get into a groove offensively, Johnston said.

"Jeff knew what he had to do and coach gave us a good scouting report on (Swank)," Johnston said. "We just knew how he was, and we knew their offense. If you shut him down, you pretty much shut down the rest of the team."

The Sailors play another league game tonight when they take on the Battle Mountain Huskies at 7:30 p.m. in Avon.

"It's another league game," Johnston said. "We just got to go in there and do what we got to do to get to 2-0 in the league."