Eagle Valley head coach Zachary Haglin was hoping his team could get off to a fast start in their penultimate regular season match against Battle Mountain last Thursday. Mission accomplished.

The Devils jumped out to a 16-0 lead en route to an 87-48 win in Edwards.

“It was a good start,” Haglin said. “It was one of those games where we came ready to go.”

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Dylan Zoller scored 25 points and Jonah Medina went 7-for-11 from the field, chipping in another 18 in the victory. Haglin was also excited to see substantial contributions from freshman post Daniel Anderson, who scored 12 points and grabbed five boards, all of which are good signs with postseason play beginning this week.

“Getting him back and healthy has been really nice to get some height in there,” Haglin said of Anderson, who was Tyler Bates’ main backup until a broken toe sidelined him. Bates led the Devils with 11 rebounds on Thursday night.

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Eagle Valley finished the regular season with a 5-1 league mark and share of the Western Slope title with Glenwood Springs. The Eagle Valley girls won the league title for the first time after defeating Battle Mountain earlier in the evening.

“It’s awesome,” Haglin said of doubling up on league trophies. “For them to have sole ownership of the title — I’m happy for (Eagle Valley girls coach) Vinny (Cisneros).”

The Devils had some epic battles with Glenwood Springs this season. On Feb. 6, the Devils lost 60-58. Two weeks later, Zoller dropped 44 points to exact revenge in a 70-66 Devils’ win.

“Going into that game, our goal was to give a little more space for the guards to drive, and Dylan was just unguardable going to the rack,” Haglin commented. “Forty-four points is pretty crazy.”

Eagle Valley went on to win its final game of the year, too, defeating Roaring Fork — which came into the game with a 15-5 overall record — 77-63 on Saturday to claim the 12th seed in the 40-team 5A state tournament bracket. The Devils (17-6) enter Friday’s first-round matchup against Falcon (15-8) on a 4-game winning streak.

“I think we’re playing really well as a team right now. We’re making small improvements and I think we’re in a really good spot coming into the playoffs,” Haglin said. “I’m really liking my team right now.”