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Bulldog boys hope to rebound

David Pressgrove

It will take some rebounding for the Moffat County boys basketball team to rebound from a disappointing end to the regular season.

The Bulldogs lost the battle of the boards against Glenwood Springs and Rifle in the past two games of the regular season and lost both games to finish the season, 11-11.

To have success this weekend in the sub-region tournament at Centaurus High School, Moffat County coach Scott Parker said his team needs to get back on the boards.



“When we rebound, we run,” he said. “When we run, we play well.”

The two losses came after Moffat County had seemingly turned its season around by winning five of its previous six games. Going into the last regular-season weekend, the Bulldogs were in third place in the Western Slope League. Then after Steamboat won both of its closing games and Palisade won once, Moffat ended up in a tie for fourth.



“We have to get past last weekend,” Parker said. “We lost track of the small things like defending dribble penetration, going to the boards and playing well together.”

Parker said his team was out-rebounded 2-to-1 against Glenwood and rebounded evenly with the Bears after dominating Rifle on the boards in their first meeting.

To keep its season alive, Moffat will have to beat Fountain-Fort Carson tonight in Lafayette at Centaurus High School.

The Trojans finished the season 9-14 overall and 5-9 in the Colorado Springs Metro League. Parker said his scouting report indicated the Trojans like to get up and down the court and take a lot of 3-pointers.

“We need to contest their shots and rebound well,” he said. “We went back to the basics this week and focused on rebounding and taking care of the ball.”

This is the second time this season the Bulldogs went back to the basics.

After the first time they reeled off five straight wins.

This is a team that beat the state’s No. 5-ranked Evergreen, but stumbled against lowly Rifle, 4-19.

“We weren’t working as a team,” senior Kevin Loughran said. “It’s a whole new season for us now though.”

If Moffat can find a way to beat Fountain, they will face the sub-region’s host Centaurus. That game would pit Class 4A’s top two scorers against each other. Moffat senior Derek Duran averaged 23.9 points a game this season and Centaurus’ Devon Beitzel averaged 27.2 points.

The Warriors made the Sweet 16 last year before Longmont sent them packing in overtime.

“Both Centaurus and Fountain like to get up and down the court,” Parker said. “That’s where we’re at our best, but we have to play disciplined.”

Loughran liked that the Bulldogs had a chance to play two Front Range teams.

“We played in Denver during the summer, and it was a lot of fun to get up and down with teams,” he said. “It’s our style of play. Now we have to put a full effort together as a team.”


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