Steamboat Pilot & Today

Craig — The Steamboat Springs High School boys basketball team made an 11-0 run early in the game against Moffat County High School and never looked back, winning, 54-32, in Craig.

Steamboat “was deliberate and made very few errors,” Moffat County head coach Eric Hamilton said. “They worked for their open shots, and they were disciplined and really well-coached.

“Their coach had an adjustment for everything I did, so I was just outcoached.”

Steamboat (7-9 overall, 3-3 Western Slope League) opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer from sophomore Carter Kounovsky, and senior Kit Croop hit a 3-pointer seconds later to give the Sailors the lead.

Steamboat head coach Luke DeWolfe said he wasn’t surprised by the first quarter and told his team to just stick to the game plan no matter the score.

Moffat County “always plays well here, and they were shooting well early,” DeWolfe said. “For us, we had to stay patient and execute our game plan. If we had some offensive lulls, we knew our defense could carry us.”

Moffat County sophomore Taft Cleverly led the Bulldogs with 8 points, and senior Andy Browning scored 6 points.

Steamboat senior Jake Miller scored 17 points to lead the Sailors, and junior Justin Ditter added 12.

Hamilton said the Bulldogs usually get out to a fast start, but when pressured, they stopped playing as a team.

“I thought we matched up athletically with them, but they executed and didn’t make mistakes,” he said. “We attacked really good to start the game with teamwork, but Steamboat adjusted, and we ended up not playing as a team the rest of the game.”

DeWolfe said turnovers were one of the key factors in the game.

“Our defense did a good job of pressuring the ball, and that created a lot of turnovers,” he said. “We had a good team effort and executed in the areas that we wanted to” Tuesday.

Steamboat next plays at 2 p.m. Saturday in Glenwood Springs.

Game statistics

Steamboat 54, Moffat County 32

Steamboat: 08-19-07-20 — 54

Moffat County: 09-08-05-10 — 32

Steamboat leading scorers:

Jake Miller: 17

Justin Ditter: 12

Eric Trousil: 9

Kit Croop: 9

Moffat leading scorers:

Taft Cleverly: 8

Andy Browning: 6

Colby Haddan: 4