Steamboat Pilot & Today

The Steamboat Springs girls basketball team went down low to notch a convincing victory against Battle Mountain on Jan. 31.

Post players Shelley Dunlop, Kayla Kostur and Lindsay Stanford scored a combined 34 points in Steamboat's 53-35 win against Battle Mountain in Minturn.

"I knew they would zone us," Sailors coach Steve Moos said. "We had to play different. The posts had to come up, and they passed well."

Battle Mountain has one win in Western Slope League play, but Moos said the Huskies and Sailors (9-4 overall, 4-2 in league) played a close game through the first half thanks largely to a half-court trap that caused trouble for Steamboat.

The Sailors rarely face a zone in the Western Slope, so it was beneficial for them to have to adjust and adapt on the floor against a defense they likely will see should they have to play an opponent outside the league in the postseason.

Steamboat came out after the half and went back to its full-court press, building what would become its large margin of victory toward the end of the third quarter.

Through the first half of league season, Rifle (6-0) has grabbed a two-game lead on Moffat County, Steamboat and Glenwood Springs, who are all 4-2 in league play.

But all four still have a shot at grabbing at least a share of the league title, and at this point that's all the Sailors could ask for after falling to Rifle and Glenwood Springs earlier this season.

Steamboat returns to action at 6 p.m. Friday against Delta and plays Palisade at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Both games are in Steamboat Springs.

Steamboat defeated Delta, 54-39, on Jan. 9 and beat Palisade, 66-50, on Jan. 10.