Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — In a Western Slope League primed for parity, the Steamboat Springs High School boys basketball team made the first emphatic statement. 

Steamboat ran out to a huge early lead and put together its most complete game of the year, beating the defending league champion Glenwood Springs, 61-43, on Friday. 

The Sailors (5-6 overall, 1-0 in the league) burst out to a 21-2 lead with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first quarter to all but seal the game. 

Steamboat led 25-9 after one quarter and 41-16 at halftime. 

“It wasn’t just one of those things that happens,” Steamboat coach Luke DeWolfe said. “We had everybody here over the course of the break. We had all of our guys here. We worked on the things we needed to work on.”

That was evident from the first tip. The Sailors cut down on their turnovers and got contributions from all over the floor. All five Steamboat starters scored at least eight points, and the young guard duo of Justin Ditter and Carter Kounovsky combined to score 21 points. 

The Demons (5-4, 0-1) started to make it respectable in the second half with a full-court press. Glenwood cut it to 49-30 toward the end of the third quarter on back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from Collin Porterfield. 

But that was as close as the Demons would get.

“You can’t say you’re a champ when you come out and perform like we did tonight,” Glenwood coach Cory Hitchcock said. “There are a lot of good teams out there. I think our league is as tough as it’s been in a long time.”

Jake Miller led Steamboat with 14 points. Ditter added 12 and Kit Croop had 11. Porterfield led the Demons with 14 points. 

Glenwood continues action at 2 p.m. Saturday in Moffat County. Steamboat next plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Battle Mountain. 

To reach Luke Graham, call 970-871-4229 or email lgraham@SteamboatToday.com