Craig Daily Press

Craig — Entering this weekend’s two-game home stand, the Moffat County boys basketball team was in seventh place in the Western Slope League standings.

Enter Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley.

Friday’s victory against the Huskies, combined with Saturday’s 54-51 win against the Devils, catapulted the Bulldogs into the fifth in the league.

Moffat County (4-11, 3-4 WSL) has now won three straight games.

“We are going to be ugly for the rest of the league to deal with,” Bulldogs coach Steve Maneotis said. “Every game we win shows us we can grow up. We aren’t done yet, either.”

Eagle Valley (3-11, 2-5 WSL) trailed throughout the first three quarters until a Joe Trujillo 3-pointer tied the game at 42.

Thomas Noble hit back-to-back 3’s to put Moffat County back on top, 52-44, and Chayton Owens’ rebound put-back closed out the Bulldogs scoring at 54 points.

“I’m disappointed. Severely disappointed,” Devils coach Pat Gabriel said. “The difference in this game was a giveaway here and a turnover there. If those two things don’t happen, it’s an entirely different ballgame.”

Eagle Valley was coming off a close loss at the hands of defending league champion Steamboat Springs, and Gabriel said the team never regrouped.

“We played hard. But, two consecutive road games that we should have won is tough to swallow,” he said. “We are going to keep fighting, and we’ll get better by our next game.”

Chayton Owens continued his recent dominance in the post, scoring 25 points in the paint, most of the shots contested by 6-foot-10-inch Devils center Zach Ramsay.

“Against a guy like that, you’ve got to be strong in the post,” Owens said. “Coach told me to pick it up, and I did.”

Senior Eli Buckner scored nine, Thomas Noble had eight and J.T. Haddan made his season debut after battling injuries sustained in the football season, to score seven.

The Devils were led by Trujillo’s 19 points, Cesar Castillo’s 15 and nine from Ramsay.

“This winning streak is something we can, and will, build on,” Maneotis said. “Like they say … one game at a time.”

Boys junior varsity

Moffat County’s comeback from a 13-point halftime deficit fell short, as the Bulldogs fell Saturday, 48-46, to visiting Eagle Valley.

Chris Baker led the Moffat attack with 13 points. Pablo Salcido chipped in with 10, and Brian Ivy scored nine.

Trujillo, a junior, scored 18 points for the Eagle Valley JV squad, while Bryan Matthews added 11 in the win.

“The team is still working on its intensity,” Bulldogs JV coach Justin Gallegos said. “We still need to play four solid quarters as a group. We’re going to get it.”