Prep notebook: Battle Mountain boys lacrosse takes down Golden in home opener

Battle Mountain boys lacrosse came away with an 8-6 win over Golden on Saturday in Edwards to improve to 3-1 on the season. Head coach Pat Doherty called the hard-fought, back-and-forth home opener a “gritty win, top to bottom.”

“Every person that stepped on the field for us contributed in a good way,” he stated. “The boys fought hard.”

The Huskies never trailed throughout the game, but were knotted up with the Demons 2-2 after the first quarter. Then, Asher Morris scored a pair of second-quarter goals to put the home team up 4-3 at halftime.

“Too many turnovers to start the game, but I think that had a lot to do with nerves and it being our first home game,” Doherty said. It was 5-5 entering the fourth quarter. Husky captain Joseph Dekanich scored his second goal to make it 6-5 before Golden senior Jack Gault put in his game-high third goal later to tie things up again. Later, Carter Shonk put the Huskies up for good and Keelan Losa added a security score late to make it 8-6. Jordan Jimenez finished with nine saves in goal and Champ McNair won five face offs, including a few clutch ones down the stretch to get Battle Mountain to the finish line.

The Huskies travel to Telluride on Tuesday in a rematch of last year’s state quarterfinal. Last May, Shonk scored with 3.6 seconds remaining to give the Huskies a 12-11 win and hand Telluride its first loss of the season. The Miners are currently 6-1 and ranked fourth in the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index. Battle Mountain is ranked sixth.

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Other prep notes: Eagle Valley baseball picks up win over Weld Central

• Eagle Valley scored seven runs in the second inning to cruise to a 9-1 win over Weld Central on Friday in Gypsum. Hudson Rozga went 2-for-3 from the plate, and James Bivins and Ozlin Rocha each drove in two runs in the victory. Bivins also struck out five and allowed one run in just over four innings of work on the mound as the Devils improved to 2-5 on the season. Eagle Valley faces Battle Mountain in a doubleheader next Saturday in Edwards.
• The Huskies fell to Gunnison 13-3 on the diamond on Saturday. The score was 3-1 after the first inning, but the Cowboys drove home seven runs in the third to pull away. Kai Tipton, Will Townsend, Jack Reed, Shaeffer Dodds and Harding Matthews each collected hits for the Huskies, who fell to 3-2 on the year.
• The Vail Mountain School girls soccer team defeated Moffat County 9-0 on Saturday. The Gore Rangers scored six first-half goals en route to the victory, improving to 2-0-1 in the process. Vail Mountain School is at Delta on Tuesday.
• Vail Mountain School earned an 11-6 road win over Thompson Valley Saturday in boys lacrosse to improve to 3-3 overall. The Gore Rangers are 18th in the latest CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index.
• The Battle Mountain girls soccer team cruised to an 8-0 win over Sand Creek on Saturday in Edwards to improve to 4-1-2 on the season. The Huskies travel to Roaring Fork (0-1-1) on Tuesday.
• The Vail Christian boys volleyball team defeated Aurora West College Prep Academy 25-22, 17-25, 25-23, 26-24 on Friday. Luis Rico and Luke Geller led the way with 15 and 13 kills respectively. Daniel Parez had 42 assists for the Saints, and the Saints aced the Spartans 19 times in the victory, improving to 2-1 on the year.

Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain track teams compete at Mickey Dunn Invitational

Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley competed at the Mickey Dunn Invitational in Grand Junction on Saturday. The Devils finished second out of 22 schools in the boys team scoring, falling short of Durango by just three points. On the girls side, Eagle Valley (36) and Battle Mountain (31) finished sixth and eighth, respectively, as ThunderRidge totaled 94.50 points for the 20-point win.

Tyler Blair picked up a victory in the 1600-meter run, completing the four-lap race in 4 minutes, 26.08 seconds for a 10-second win. His twin brother Dylan ran 9:36.41 to finish second in the 3200 as ThunderRidge’s Ben Lee (9:16.54) took top honors. Kingston Clous (11.15) and Robert Sanders (11.40) were second and fourth, respectively, in the 100-meter dash while Blake Anderson ran 50.77 to claim silver in the 400, finishing right behind Glenwood Springs’ Ty Hesse (50.62). Sanders and Anderson went 2-3 in the 200 before Klous and Anderson joined Tyler Blair and Jason Flaherty to win the 4×400-meter relay by three seconds in 3:31.29 at the end of the meet.

Flaherty also jumped 6-2 for second in the high jump, right in front of his sophomore teammate Tiago Horruitiner (6-0).

On the girls side, Lillian Brueck picked up a couple big wins in the hurdle events. The junior took the 100-meter hurdles in 16.56 seconds to finish well ahead of Salida’s Myah Scott (16.84) in second and Olivia Young (17.20) in third. Brueck came back to secure the 300-meter hurdle title as well, running 48.23 to finish more than a full second ahead of second place. Tyler Heimerl won the long jump (17-5) for the Huskies, finishing almost a foot in front of runner-up Isabella Fenske (16-7.25). Nate Bueche also scored points for Battle Mountain in both the 1600 (eighth, 4:41.72) and 800 (fifth, 2:08.57).

The Battle Mountain Invitational scheduled for Tuesday has been canceled due to the expected snow storm. Eagle Valley’s home meet is slated for Saturday in Gypsum.