Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Even if everything had gone as it was supposed to, if a fair percentage of the shots fell and some of those ill-advised passes were assists instead of turnovers, the Steamboat Springs High School girls basketball team could have finished the weekend 0-2.

“I’m not saying if we do everything right, we get W's,” Sailors coach John Ameen said, “but things could be a lot better on the floor. We aren’t playing to our potential.”

Things didn’t go right, however. Two lousy quarters doomed the team Friday night against Palisade, and four rough quarters led to the same result Saturday, albeit a more lopsided one. Steamboat lost at home to Delta, 58-26.

The Panthers broke open the game with an effective offense and a turnover-inducing defense. They led by seven after one quarter and 15 after two.

Led by a sensational performance from senior Skylyn Webb, the game never was in doubt. Webb finished with a game-high 24 points, including 11 in the third quarter as Delta stretched the lead to 20 points.

“We don’t change what we do on the court. We’re making the same errors, little things that are very basic. We don’t take care of that, and it translates into turnovers and into a lack of execution,” Ameen said.

Steamboat, meanwhile, struggled to mount a consistent effort to get the ball down the court and into an offensive set. Deep shots weren’t falling, but despite that, they did find some success in the half court, usually when the ball went through junior center Maggie Crouch. She finished with a team-high 10 points.

“It’s rotating the defense, getting them to shift, and even if we don’t score with Maggie, she can pass it out of that,” Ameen said.

Alice Holmquist had six points, and those two were the only Sailors were more than a single basket.

“We have to get back to the drawing board,” Ameen said.

Steamboat (5-5) returns to wrap up a three-game homestand Friday against Eagle Valley.

To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 970-871-4253 or email jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com