Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — At one point earlier this season, it looked like the Steamboat Springs boys basketball team couldn't shoot the basketball.

Now, on the heels of a 66-37 win against Delta on Saturday, it feels like the team can't miss.

For the second night in a row - Steamboat shot 57 percent against Palisade on Friday - Steamboat shot better than 50 percent from the field, had four players in double figures and ran away with another Western Slope League game.

"Hopefully, we keep doing that," Steamboat coach Luke DeWolfe said with a smile. "We become a pretty hard team to deal with when the scoring is mixed around from not just one guy. If we can continue doing that, then great."

Steamboat had all but decided Saturday's contest halfway through the second quarter. After jumping out to a 22-11 first-quarter lead, the Sailors turned it on in the first five minutes of the second quarter.

Led by Nelson Brassell's 10 second-quarter points, Steamboat started the quarter on a 16-3 run to extend its lead to 38-14 with 2:35 remaining in the half.

"We've just been a lot more confident in our shooting," Steamboat's Jack Spady said. "The team is starting to gel and come together. Everyone gets their points. Sometimes someone has a good night, and sometimes someone else does."

On Saturday, it seemed as though all the Sailors had good nights. Spady scored 15, Alex Wood had 13, Charles Wood had 13, and Brassell led all scorers with 18. The last Steamboat starter, point guard Isiah Forsyth, dished out 11 assists including a behind-the-back feed to Charles Wood in the third quarter that gave the crowd a collective gasp.

Now Steamboat (7-5 overall, 4-0 in league play) prepares to get into the tough part of its schedule. Steamboat has dates with league favorites Glenwood Springs and Moffat County still ahead, and it plays six of its next seven league games on the road.

DeWolfe said playing like they did the past two games should help a relatively young Sailors team prepare to be road-tested.

"The competition picks up now," DeWolfe said. "We get into the heart of our schedule with Glenwood and Moffat coming up. They're teams that definitely can compete. The stakes are a lot higher than they were.

"But we're really happy, and I think the kids are excited. This is something we knew since this summer. It's been a process, but we think we're at a point where we're starting to produce."

Steamboat next plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Rifle.