There have been several changes in leadership for Bulldog basketball in recent years, and as the girls hoops program brings in its fourth head coach in three years, the shakeup in personnel is already looking positive.

Moffat County girls tipped off Friday night in Aspen for the new winter season, taking a decisive 53-26 win over the Skiers.

The game was the first headed by new coach Heath Peper, who was hired this fall to take on the girls team as well as serving as a health science teacher at Craig Middle School.

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“I mainly was interested in this job for the teaching position. When I found out there was a solid girls basketball program that had a head coaching position to be filled, I became even more interested,” Peper said.

Peper has a master’s degree in coaching and exercise science from Concordia University Irvine and a bachelor’s degree in health education and promotion from Oklahoma State University. He has taught and coached at California’s Palo Verde College and Palo Verde High School, Utah’s Snow College and Oklahoma’s Adair High School.

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He also competed in basketball at both Adair High School and Palo Verde College.

Peper takes over for Dillon Hoselton, who last season balanced the head coach role with his duties as MCHS’s athletic director.

“I see a strong foundation of fundamentals with some of our top athletes,” Peper said. “I think the only weakness is that we don’t have a summer basketball camp for the younger kids to develop those fundamental skills.”

He added that he and Hoselton are working on plans for a camp this summer.

With some significant turnover behind them, Peper said he expects people will want to be assured he’s sticking around in the job, though he embraces that challenge.

“It’ll be rewarding when people start to realize how much I care about this game and for the student-athletes who play for us,” he said. “Right now, we’re working on team camaraderie and support, which means bringing a ton of energy to practices. Once we get that down, our performance will go up exponentially.”

He added that fellow first-year MoCo coaches Angela Terry and Trey Woosley have brought “invaluable” experience working with junior varsity and C-Team athletes.

MCHS girls have five seniors this season — Caitlyn Adams, Ariana Buchanan, Hannah Caperton, Josefina Kuberry and Mena Tucker — who are part of a roster that includes both seasoned lowerclassmen and first-time varsity players.

During the Aspen game, Buchanan led with 11 points, Adams had 9, and junior Bella Vanzo put up 10 in an opener that saw the Bulldogs come out “hard and aggressive.”

“They responded really well to a new system,” Peper said. “We’re still in a learning stage, though, so we were lost at times. The good news is that means there’s a lot of room for improvement.”

MCHS girls will see plenty of activity in the coming week at the three-day Demon Invitational hosted in Glenwood Springs, first facing Wheat Ridge this Thursday. Bulldog boys will stay closer to home this week with the three-day White River Electric Cowboy Shootout in Meeker.

The following week will see both teams in tournament mode again at the Winter Classic co-hosted Dec. 19-21 by Grand Junction and Palisade to round out the early season.