Steamboat Pilot & Today

Luke Graham

Luke Graham's column appears periodically in the Steamboat Today. Contact him at 970-871-4229 or lgraham@SteamboatToday.com.

Find more columns by Luke here.

If I could give D'Evelyn boys basketball coach Troy Pachner one piece of advice it would be to not look at the tape of D'Evelyn's 21-point victory against Steamboat in December.

In fact, I'd tell him to take that tape, run over it, ceremoniously light it on fire, drop it off a cliff and never let it get within 20 feet of his television.

He won't learn anything from it.

The Sailors team that he'll see on Friday in Broomfield, is a completely different team from the earlier meeting.

Looking at that tape would be like trying to compare apples and oranges.

Simply put, the December Sailors and the February/March Sailors are so different that it might be beyond comparisons.

"There aren't even comparisons," junior Aaron Calkins said. "He can look at that tape but he's not going to get a good scouting report."

Still, it would be easy to assume that D'Evelyn might have a slight edge over Steamboat.

The Sailors are winless against the Jaguars in their last four meetings.

D'Evelyn boasts three players taller than 6-foot-6, including 6-foot-9 Andrew Hooper who has already inked a Division I basketball scholarship. Steamboat's tallest starter is 6-foot-3.

"They've kind of been our devil's advocate," senior Tanner Stillwell said.

With all that said, however, the game on Friday will be the marquee matchup in the Class 4A playoffs.

It will be a matchup the Sailors - and yours truly - have looked forward to since that first loss.

In the 19 games since the D'Evelyn loss, playing them again has been a hot topic. Every interview or conversation the topic always turned to, 'Boy wouldn't it be fun to get another crack at D'Evelyn?'

Each player always said yes.

"I haven't talked to anybody else but I know for me, it's almost like another Moffat County game," Calkins said. "We've never beaten them and that's gotten under my skin. I really want to take it to them this time."

Friday night's game provides so many intriguing elements. D'Evelyn's size versus Steamboat's shooting. The Jaguars up-tempo offense versus the Sailors patience.

But maybe the most interesting thing is to see how much better Steamboat really is.

It's obvious Steamboat's improved.

Friday night, they get to show just how much.

- To reach Luke Graham, call 871-4229 or e-mail lgraham@steamboatpilot.com