Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Few coaches are completely satisfied with a season, and Soroco girls basketball coach Bob Johnson is no exception.

He and his Rams squad would have liked to finish better than 8-11, but Johnson said the progression he saw over the course of the basketball season helped ease some of the sting of close losses.

"I knew it would be a tougher league and most games would be difficult," Johnson said. "We had chances. We really did. They really improved a lot over the course of the year. I was happy with the girls."

Soroco's season ended in the opening round of the district tournament on Feb. 22 with a 55-47 loss at Paonia.

The Rams entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed overall.

The Eagles came in as the No. 2 seed behind North Park.

In the first meeting between Soroco and Paonia, the Rams fell by eight points.

Soroco lost by eight again in the Feb. 22 meeting.

"We were behind by 15 going into the fourth quarter," Johnson said. "Then the girls started to loosen up. Their press hurt us a little bit. Our girls made quite a few mistakes on the press, but the girls were quite nervous in the first quarter and got off to a bad start."

The Rams, however, outscored the Eagles 17-11 in the fourth quarter, but Johnson said the early deficit was difficult to overcome toward the end.

The Rams will lose five seniors to graduation, including captains Meg Hayne and Jessie deGanahl.

Four of those five seniors are post players, meaning some sophomores will have to step up next season, Johnson said.

"We may have to go with two types of offense," Johnson said. "If we put in a shorter lineup we might be able to press more, but we'll have to be concerned about the rebounding."