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Winter Sports Preview 2011 December 1, 2011 3

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Montrose High Preview

BY MATT LINDBERG DAILY PRESS SPORTS EDITOR

The members of the Montrose High wrestling teamwere in the Lloyd McMillan Gymnasium on a recentNovember evening putting in work at practice.

When the Indian grapplers weren't running laps,they were going head to head on the mat, striving toget the best of one another. By 6 p.m., they alreadyhad been in the wrestling room working out for al-most two hours. But these kinds of workouts arenothing new to them.

The Indians have been working for two hours fourdays a week since April in an effort to stay on top oftheir game before this season begins, MHS wrestlingcoach Kevin Passehl said.

"They know that when they come to practice, theybetter bring it," Passehl said. "We have to work hardall year long if we want a payoff. Hopefully, that pay-off comes in February."

That's when the 2012 Class 4A state tournamenttakes place, and Passehl said the Indians' expecta-tions are high.

"The ultimate goal is to win it," Passehl said. "Weshould be in the top three at state, because we've gotthe kids."

Indeed, Montrose has a roster loaded with talent. Itstarts with four returnees who made it to state last sea-son: Kordell Bradshaw, Geordon Hudson, Marcus Ve-lasquez and Cole Panter.

At the 2011 state tournament, Bradshaw took third inthe 135-pound weight class. Teammates Velasquez andHudson took sixth in the 140- and 125-pound weight

Montrose wrestling team aiming for state championship this season

JOEL BLOCKER/DAILY PRESS

Kevin Passehl gives instructions to hisgrapplers during a recent practice.

SEE CONTENDERS, PAGE 6

Montrose High Preview6 December 1, 2011 Winter Sports Preview 2011

classes, respectively.Those four and team-

mate Jacob Kirby are thewrestlers the coach said heis leaning on to help set thetone for the season.

"All those guys work

hard, day in, day out,"Passehl said. "They lead byexample and get everyoneready to go."

The coach said the re-maining Indians on theroster have various levelsof experience, but plenty ofskill. He also said he ex-pects a great effort out of

everyone."I want us to have guys

that win state individually,and for us to win as ateam," Passehl said. "Ittakes everyone on the teampushing each other to builda state championship team.It's not unrealistic for us.Everyone just has to do

their job."The Indians will have

their hands full this sea-son. They start the seasonwith a dual at Delta, thenface several other toughopponents over the nextfew months, including lo-cal powers Olathe andGunnison.

Montrose will also hostits Indian Invitational inJanuary and attend theWarrior Classic tourna-ment in Grand Junction inDecember.

The coach said he hasbeen pleased with theteam's effort in practiceand thinks the Indianshave another good seasonahead of them.

"We always try to get theschedule as tough as wecan get it," Passehl said."We don't want to just getback to state. We want toget there and do some-thing. This is a really goodgroup of kids."

CONTENDERS: loaded with talent


(Left) Montrose High 145-pounder Geordon Hudson, left,and assistant coach Neil Samples go over a move during arecent practice. (Above) Montrose High's 145-pounderGeordon Hudson attempts to take down teammate Kee-gan Harmon during a recent practice.

Dec. 1, at Delta, 7 p.m.Dec. 3, Dual Tournament at CMU, TBADec. 8, at Gunnison, 6:30 p.m.Dec. 10, at Roosevelt Tournament, TBADec. 15, Olathe, 7 p.m.Dec. 16-17, at Warrior Classic in

Grand Junction, TBAJan. 6, Pueblo West, 6 p.m.Jan. 7, Indian Invitational, TBAJan. 12, at Grand Junction Central, 7 p.m.Jan. 19, at Fruita, 7 p.m.

Jan. 20, at Florence, 4 p.m.Jan. 21, at Canyon City Tournament, TBAJan. 26, Grand Junction, 7 p.m.Jan. 28, at Discovery Canyon

Dual Tournament, TBAFeb. 4, League Dual Tournament

at Grand Junction, TBAFeb. 10-11, at Regionals, TBAFeb. 16-18, at State Tournament

at Pepsi Center

MHS Wrestling 2011-12 Schedule

FROM PAGE 5


United they standBY MATT LINDBERG

DAILY PRESS SPORTS EDITOR The Montrose boys basketball squad

went 15-8 in last year’s regular season andmade an appearance in the first round ofthe Class 4A state playoffs, but head coachMartin Maloney said the experience wasnot an easy one.

It was Maloney's first season at the helmof the program, which resulted in a lot ofquestions for him and his players. The Indi-ans had to get used to their third headcoach in three years, while Maloney had todiscover who his players were.

“Last year was a transition, being that Iwas a rookie coach,” Maloney said. “Every-thing was new.”

This year is guaranteed to bring morechange. Maloney has lost seven seniorswho accumulated most of the playing timelast year, but the coach is excited about thepending season. Things are starting to gel,he said.

“This year, the kids are more familiarwith who I am and what to expect,” Mal-oney said. “And I know better who I am as acoach.”

Said senior Nathan Hawley: “It definitelyhelps [having Maloney back]. We alreadygot a year to adjust. He’s a good coach. He’sreally motivational.”

Maloney has three players to help bringthat familiarity to the forefront this season.It starts with Hawley, and fellow seniors Ca-maron Jones and Brad Warren. Hawley andJones played significant minutes on the var-sity squad last season, while Warren playedfor the varsity and junior varsity teams.

The trio will be setting the tone for thisseason's squad, the coach said.

“They will provide senior leadership forus,” Maloney said. “These guys are famil-iar with what we did last season, and Ithink they’ll really step it up this season forus.”

The rest of the roster includes a mix ofplayers with varied levels of experience,but plenty of talent, the coach said. Thoseplayers include Angelo Youngren, MichaelOrndorff, Ben Cruz, Ross Barney, TylerCayo and Jordan Cribari.

“I’m excited about our potential,” Mal-oney said.

At a recent practice, the team was execut-ing multiple offensive and defensive playswhen it wasn’t working on the fundamen-tals of the game, such as dribbling, shoot-ing, rebounding and passing.

The atmosphere in practice has been pos-itive and should make for a successful sea-son, players said.

“It’s been really good,” Jones said. “Ithink we have a really good team. Weshould be solid.”

The Indians will face plenty of stiff com-petition throughout the season. They’ll gohead-to-head with Southwestern League ri-vals such as Grand Junction and Fruita, butaren’t thinking about those games rightnow. They start the season tonight with a bigtest in the D’Evelyn Tournament in Denver.

“The D’Evelyn Tournament is a very bigchallenge,” Maloney said.

The coach said he’s excited to start hissecond season as the Indians’ head coach.

“We’re looking at building a program,”Maloney said. “I think we had some trulyoutstanding kids last year, but I don’t thinkthat we’ve lost [talent]. We have the poten-tial to be just as good and hopefully better.”

MHS basketball squad set for success


Montrose Highboys basketballcoach MartinMaloney goesover a shootingdrill with NathanHawley duringa practice.


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Jan. 20, at Grand Junction Central, 7 p.m.Jan. 24, Fruita, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 27, at Grand Junction, 7 p.m.Feb. 3, at Cortez, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 4, at Durango, 1:30 p.m.Feb. 8, Grand Junction Central, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 14, Grand Junction, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 17, at Fruita, 7 p.m.

MHS Boys Basketball 2011-12 Schedule


Striving for excellenceMontrose High Preview


At a recent afternoon practice, mem-bers of the Montrose High girls bas-ketball team were dripping with sweat.

When they weren't running up anddown the floor executing offensiveand defensive schemes, they werepracticing fundamentals of thegame, such as dribbling, rebound-ing, passing and shooting.

On the rare occasions when layupswere missed, the girls were held ac-countable with sprints across thegym.

The work may have seemed exces-sive to those not a part of the team,but not for the Lady Indians, forwhom achieving perfection is im-portant. The Montrose girls basket-ball program has a rich history thatincludes multiple state champi-onships and post-season appear-ances, in addition to numerous re-gional and Southwestern League ti-tles.

Head coach Eric Sanchez has prid-ed himself and his squad on carry-ing on that tradition of hard workand success since he took over theprogram in 2009. This season is nodifferent, he said.

"There's not a time we're able totake a break," Sanchez said. "We'llget tested early and often, and as ahead coach, I am excited about that."

The Montrose girls will start theseason tonight at a tournament inGallup, N.M., and follow that withanother in Steamboat Springs.

Throughout the season, they will

take on Southwestern League rivalslike Durango, Grand Junction,Grand Junction Central and Cortez,in addition to hosting their annualBlack Canyon Classic this month.

Although Montrose will face plen-ty of stiff competition, the Lady In-dians have a lot of talent of theirown.

It starts with seniors Kelsey Meis-berger, Madison Gurule, JordanAllen and Bailey Hawk.

"I like our nucleus," Sanchez said."We also have other talented pieceswe'll get in the mix."

The roster also boasts juniorsKala Keltz, Tess Skoe and Lara Am-mermann, in addition to sopho-mores Emily Thorp and Maison Bo-vard, and freshman StephanieRowan.

The team strives to play its best inall aspects of the game, but defensewill once again be the focus, thecoach said.

"You're not going to be able toshoot the ball [great] every night,but defense can keep you in thegame," Sanchez said. "We'll continuewith that philosophy.”

Sanchez said the team's goal is to awin a state championship, but fornow, the Lady Indians are focusedon the near future and improvingevery time they hit the court.

"We're going to take it one game ata time," Sanchez said. "We want toplay at our best every time we're outhere."


JOEL BLOCKER/DAILY PRESS PHOTOS

Montrose High'sKaylin Meisberger, left,and Whitney Watsonwork on passing drills.(Below) MHS girlsbasketball coach EricSanchez works withhis players duringa recent practice.

Dec. 1-3, at Gallup, N.M. Tournament, TBADec. 8-10, at Steamboat Springs Tourney, TBADec. 13, Delta, 6 p.m.Dec. 16-17, Black Canyon Classic, TBAJan. 5-7, Douglas County Tournament, TBAJan. 13, Durango, 6 p.m.Jan. 14, Cortez, NoonJan. 20, at Grand Junction Central, 5:30 p.m.

Jan. 24, Fruita, 6 p.m.Jan. 27, at Grand Junction, 5:30 p.m.Feb. 3, at Cortez, 6 p.m.Feb. 4, at Durango, NoonFeb. 8, Grand Junction Central, 6 p.m.Feb. 14, Grand Junction, 6 p.m.Feb. 17, at Fruita, 5:30 p.m

MHS Girls Basketball 2011-12 Schedule

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Montrose High Preview10 December 1, 2011 Winter Sports Preview 2011

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BY MIKE EASTERLINGDAILY PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

It may not operate at the varsi-ty level, but the climbing teamat Montrose High School mayrank as the most successful— and popular — sports pro-gram the school offers.

When the Indians beganpreseason workouts severalweeks ago, approximately 90

boys and girls turned out totake part. With those kinds of

numbers, it's no coincidencethe school fared so well at last

year's state championships. Thevarsity girls won state and the junior

varsity girls finished second, while thejunior varsity boys also won state.

Adam Hobbs, who coaches the squadwith Becky Keasey, attributes that suc-cess to a change in approach.

"Over the past two or three years, wechanged it from a club program towhere we run it like any other [Col-orado High School Activities Associa-tion] sport would," he said. "I don'tthink before we did that, they ever didconditioning or anything like that here.Now, it's more of a team thing, andwe're trying to focus on team aspects. Inan individual sport, that's kind oftough sometimes."

Montrose isn't alone in seeing suchhigh interest among its students in thesport. Club programs also exist inOuray, Ridgway, Grand Junction, Gun-nison, Glenwood Springs, Carbondale

and Rifle-Parachute, making it relative-ly easy to find local competition, Hobbssaid, noting that his team participatesin a meet on the Western Slope everytwo weeks.

Hobbs expects the Montrose programto be among the state's best again thisyear, beginning with the varsity boysteam, a top-10 finisher at state last year.Senior Michael Elder leads the squadand has been alternating first-place fin-ishes with a climber from GunnisonHigh School at every meet in which theteam has competed this year, Hobbssaid.

Other standouts for the Indians aresenior Josh Bolling and junior JamesMcBee, he said.

On the girls side, senior Alana Lin isthe top female climber in the state, hesaid, while sophomore Bailey Case andfreshman Sydny Adams also will leadthe squad.

"We've got one of the best varsitymales and the best varsity female in thestate, and a lot of our young people arereally good," Hobbs said, sizing up hissquad. "Overall, I think we can finishhigher than last year."

As for what makes a good climber,Hobbs had a quick answer.

"It's a combination of power and tech-nique," he said. "Somebody who canclimb efficiently and smartly, but whoalso has got a lot of power and strength.I think the best climbers have powerand endurance."


Montrose High's Ari Lightsey works a route during a recent climbing practice.

Hoping toscale newheights

Dec. 3, at Colorado Mtn. College, TBADec. 10, at Grand Junction

Climbing Center, 1 p.m.Jan. 7, at Grand Junction

Climbing Center, 1 p.m.

Jan. 21, at Ridgway Secondary, TBAFeb. 11, Regionals at Grand Junction

Climbing Center, TBAFeb. 25, at state meet in Colorado Springs, TBA

MHS Climbing 2011-12 Schedule



New coach standing poolsidefor Lady Indians


This season is the start of a new era forthe Montrose High girls swim team.

That's because the team has experiencedseveral changes recently. Not only is thesquad making up for the departure of sev-eral talented seniors, it's also forging aheadwith a new head coach.

Ellen Erickson has taken the reigns fromformer coach Silas Almgren, who was atthe helm of the Montrose girls swim pro-gram for the last 17 years.

Almgren, who also coaches the Montroseboys swim team and the Montrose Marlinsswim program in addition to teaching atMHS, said resigning as the girls' head

coach was about balancing his various re-sponsibilities.

"I absolutely love the girls," Almgrensaid. "It really just came down to days withmy schedule. Something had to give, and Ididn't feel I could do it at the level I hadcome to expect."

The coach said he will remain in chargeof the Montrose boys and Marlins' squads,and added he's happy for Erickson.

Members of the team said that althoughthey have learned a lot from Almgren,they're excited about teaming with theirnew leader.

"She's a really good coach, and Silas istoo," Lady Indian Amanda Winslow said."It's nice to have a new perspective."

The coaching transition has been easedby the fact that most of the returningswimmers are familiar with Erickson.That's because she has served as an assis-tant Montrose Marlins coach for swimmersages 8-13 for the past nine years.

Her expertise in the sport also comesfrom more than a decade's worth of experi-ence officiating swim competitions at dif-ferent levels.

At a recent practice, the Lady Indianswere working on different styles of swim-ming while Erickson pointed out ways tofine tune their technique.

The coach said practices have been enjoy-able so far and that she's looking forward tothe start of the season.

"This is a great group of girls," Ericksonsaid. "The atmosphere is good. I'm hopingfor another successful season."

The squad boasts 22 swimmers and eightdivers this year. Returners who qualifiedfor the state swim competition last seasoninclude Winslow, Rashyll Leonard, HaleyKrebs, Alyssa Aragon, Christine Hurford,Logan Morris and Brooke Gaber.

Erickson said she would like the team tohave even more athletes qualify individual-ly for state this season and for the squad tohave three relay teams there, as well.

"Montrose girls swimming has a reputa-tion going a lot of years back, and with thegreat group of girls we have, hopefully wecan continue that," Erickson said.

Montrose High Swimmers Rashyll Leonard, left, Amanda Winslow, Brooke Gaber, LoganMorris, Haley Krebs, Alyssa Aragon and Christine Hurford will lead the Lady Indian swim-mers this season.

Dec. 3, at Aspen, 9 a.m.Dec. 10, at League Relays at CMU, 9:30 a.m.Dec. 16, Montrose Invitational, 4 p.m.Dec. 17, Montrose Invitational, 9 a.m.Jan. 13, Montrose home meet, 4 p.m.

Jan. 14, at Glenwood Springs, TBAJan. 20-21, at Jeffco Invitational, TBAFeb. 3-4, at Conference Championships, TBAFeb. 10-11, at State Championships

MHS Girls Swimteam 2011-12 Schedule


When former Olathe Highwrestling coach Harvey Starbuck re-tired in April after 17 years at thehelm and 29 years with the program,he left behind an enviable legacy.

He led the Pirates to a team state ti-tle in 2005, as well as 11 WesternSlope League titles, five appearancesin the final four of the state tourna-ment and 10 regional titles. Besidesthat, Starbuck had nine state champi-ons and 63 wrestlers who placed atstate while he was in charge.

Seven months after Starbuck's re-tirement, on a cool Novemberevening, the Pirates' new head coach,

TeeJay Rose, sat in his school officebeaming with excitement about theupcoming season.

After spending the summer train-ing with his squad, Rose has mixedemotions as he gets ready to fill Star-buck's big shoes.

"If you said you didn't feel a littlebit of pressure, you would be lying,"Rose said. "There's some pressure,but I am really looking forward to thechallenge."

The new head coach has plenty ofexperience with both the sport andthe Pirates to help lighten the load.Rose spent the last four seasons as anassistant for Olathe and said he'sbeen involved with wrestling practi-

cally his whole life.Rose wrestled at the varsity level

while attending Durango and Range-ly high schools before going on towrestle at Western State College. Af-ter that, he served as an assistantwrestling coach at Gunnison Highand has spent time officiating.

Now, as the Pirates' leader, Rosesaid he's determined to maintain thestandard of excellence for which theOlathe squad has been known.

"Olathe has tons of support in thecommunity," Rose said. "I want tokeep Olathe a successful wrestlingschool. I'd like to win everything, be-cause I hate to lose."

Olathe High athletic director Joe

Archuleta is confident Rose will be agood leader.

"I am real excited for TeeJay,"Archuleta said. "He's done a reallygood job preparing the kids. I'm look-ing forward to the upcoming season."

Rose has several experienced grap-plers who should be able to help himachieve his goals.

It starts with senior Zach Shank,who is coming off a season in whichhe won a 3A state title in the 125-pound weight class. It marked hissecond championship in three years,as he also won a title as a freshman atthe 112-pound weight class.

"Zach puts in the work to be verysuccessful," Rose said.

Olathe High Preview12 December 1, 2011 Winter Sports Preview 2011

Dec. 3, at Mesa Duals, 9 a.m.Dec. 9, at Paonia, 7 p.m.Dec. 10, at Delta Tournament, 9 a.m.Dec. 15, at Montrose, 7 p.m.Dec. 16-17, at Warrior Classic, TBAJan. 6, Berthoud, 7 p.m.Jan. 7, at Indian Invitational (Montrose), TBAJan. 12, at Delta, 7 p.m.Jan. 13, at Salida, 6 p.m.

Jan. 14, at Florence Tournament, 9 a.m.Jan. 20, Hotchkiss, 7 p.m.Jan. 27, at Gunnison, 7 p.m.Jan. 28, at Centauri Tournament, TBAFeb. 2, Grand Junction, 7 p.m.Feb. 4, League Duals, 9 a.m.Feb. 10-11, Regional Tournament, TBAFeb. 16-18, State Tournament, TBA

OHS Wrestling 2011-12 Schedule

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Olathe High's 132-pounder Zach Shank works with Wyatt Yarnell during a recent practice.

Carrying on

the PirateTradition


Rose added that he thought Shank could contend for his third state title thisyear if he continues to work hard, but also said he thought everyone on thesquad has the chance to be crowned a champion.

Returning Pirates Trenton Piatt, Jacob Solseth, Wyatt Yarnell, Casey Childsand Ben Pridy all placed at last season's state tournament.

The coach said he thinks the experiences of all six of those wrestlers shouldset examples for their teammates.

Other notable returnees include Ronnie Mumm and Troy Rose.The remaining roster is a mix of guys with all levels of experience, but

plenty of skill, the coach said.Like always, the Pirates have a tough schedule that includes an appearance

in the Warrior Classic in Grand Junction, as well as duals with Paonia,Hotchkiss, Delta and Gunnison.

"I think we can have a very successful season if we can maintain where wehave been and build on that," Rose said. "We're already a successful program,so we're going to continue to build by working hard, and the rest will come."


Olathe's new head coach TeeJay Rose watches two of his wrestlers work on their tech-nique at a recent practice.

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Olathe High Preview

Laden with experience, Pirate boys expecting big results



Olathe High's head coach Lance Ready, left, and assistant coach Darren Sofka oversee arecent practice.

BY MIKE EASTERLINGDAILY PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

It's a given that every sports seasonis different, but Olathe High boys bas-ketball coach Lance Ready says henever experienced a campaign likehis Pirates went through in 2010-2011in one important aspect.

"In my 20 some years of coachingbasketball, I've never had a team withas much illness as we did last year,"he said.

For a lengthy period last season,Ready's squad was ravaged by sick-ness.

"We went four weeks, five weeks,maybe even six weeks in January andFebruary where we didn't have a fullsquad at practice," he said, addingthat the Pirates played several gameslast season minus one or two starters.

That left Olathe shorthanded on nu-merous occasions, but the Piratesfought their way to an 11-11 mark, los-ing a close game at regionals toPagosa Springs, which eventually fin-ished third in the state.

Barring a repeat of that flu bug thisseason, Olathe seems primed to im-prove on last year's results. The Pi-rates return four starters — JasonArmendariz, Richard Tafoya, TaylorCarlson and Carston Byers — fromlast year's team and features a rosterwith seven seniors.

"I'm excited," Ready said. "The kidsare excited. This group of seniors re-ally like to play basketball and enjoybeing around each other. I think we’llbe very successful if we put asideegos. If we commit to a team goal, Ithink we can be a pretty solid ball-club."

Ready described his team as onethat likes to trap and run a fast break.The team's strength, he said, is thatbig senior class — and the experiencethat comes with it.

"We're a pretty smart team," hesaid. "And the kids get along wellwith each other."

Tafoya is an accomplished 3-pointshooter, as is Carlson, he said. Bothare 6-foot-1 and play the wing posi-tion.

"Both those two kids are tough todefend because they can take it offthe bounce pretty well, too," Readysaid.

Armendariz, the team's pointguard, is the best passer on the team,

and his shooting ability is much im-proved, the coach said.

At the post, the Pirates have 6-4Carston Byers and Josh Ramirez,who has a knack for rebounding de-spite being relatively small at 6 feet,Ready said.

"He goes after the boards reallyhard," the coach said. "He was one ofour first substitutes off the benchlast year, and he'll probably start thisyear."

Byers will be the team's biggest postpresence and has led the Pirates inrebounding the last two years.

"He's like having another coach onthe floor," Ready said. "He probablyknows the plays as well as I do."

Two other seniors — Xavier Payanand Ben Kaylor — will provide theteam with experienced depth.

"[Payan] literally could play any po-sition on the floor for us at any time,"Ready said — a tremendous assetwhen the team gets in foul trouble.And Kaylor, he said, is a tenaciousplayer, a particularly good defenderwho also will provide the Pirates witha spark on offense.

Ready also expects juniors TannerVernon and Russell Harris to make acontribution this season, as well.

But to improve on last year's finish,Olathe will need to take care of theball better, Ready said.

"That was our Achilles heel lastyear," he said. "We turned the ballover too much. I'd like to think withanother year's experience, we won'tturn the ball over as much. But I don'tthink you could interview any bas-ketball coach anywhere who wouldn'ttell you his team doesn't turn the ballover too much."

Ready said the 2011-12 edition of thePirates doesn't have any glaringweaknesses, but time will tell if theunit reaches its potential.

"You want your kids to do whatthey're best at for the team and makegood decisions," he said. "If we can dothat as a team, make good decisions,we'll be all right. If we throw the ballaway or take poor shots, those arethings we'll need to work on."

Ready expects Olathe to contend forthe league title, just as it did a yearago despite all the challenges it faced.

"I think we've got as good a chanceto be there as anyone," he said.

Dec. 6, Gunnison, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 9, Paonia, 7 p.m.Dec. 10, Delta, 4 p.m.Dec. 13, Palisade, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 16-17, Black Canyon Classic at MHS, TBAJan. 6, at Roaring Fork, 7 p.m.Jan. 7, Cedaredge, 4 p.m.Jan. 12, at Gunnison, 7 p.m.Jan. 13, Grand Valey, 7 p.m.Jan. 19, at Rifle, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 20, at Hotchkiss, 7 p.m.

Jan. 27, at Coal Ridge, 7 p.m.Jan. 28, Basalt, 4 p.m.Feb. 3, Aspen, 7 p.m.Feb. 10, at Cedaredge, 7 p.m.Feb. 11, at Grand Valley, 4 p.m.Feb. 14, Hotchkiss, 7 p.m.Feb. 16, Gunnison, 7 p.m.Feb. 20-25, District Tournament, TBAMarch. 2-3, Regional Tournament, TBAMarch 8-10, State Tournament, TBA

OHS Boys Basketball 2011-12 Schedule

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BY MATT LINDBERGDAILY PRESS SPORTS EDITOR

The success the Olathe High girlsbasketball squad has experienced inrecent years is no secret.

The Lady Pirates have establishedthemselves as an elite basketball pro-gram on the Western Slope and in thestate, thanks to a long list of accom-plishments that include numerousClass 3A district and regional titles.In addition, the squad went undefeat-ed (19-0) during the 2009-2010 regularseason and made it to the Final Fourof the state tournament before suf-fering defeat that year.

During the 2010-11 season, theOlathe girls went 17-3 before BishopMachebeuf upset them 44-38 in thepost-season.

It's a challenge for any program toachieve the success the Lady Pirateshad, but it's arguably even harder tomaintain it. This year, the team isaiming to not just maintain that levelof excellence, but surpass it.

"We want to go to Fort Collins andbring that golden ball here," Olathecoach Paul Althaus said of his team'sdesire to win a state title. "I don'tthink the girls see (our past) as pres-sure. I think that the girls love thechallenge. They love the traditionand are trying to uphold it."

The Lady Pirates lost two of theirleading scorers from last year's teamin Morgan Stansberry and EmilyBrummitt, but the team still boastsplenty of talent.

It starts with senior guards KylieTait and Tawni Middleton, who haveplayed key roles on the team for sev-eral years. Both players have suitedup for the varsity squad since theirfreshman year and have developedinto leaders in that time, the coachsaid.

"They bring a lot to the floor forus," Althaus said. "You just don't al-ways get kids like that."

Other notable returning players in-clude seniors Haley Turley, BethanyCox and Brenda Suarez. The coachsaid all three players are skilled andthat he expects them to be big con-tributors for the squad this season.

The remaining players on the ros-ter may have various levels of experi-

ence, but the talent is there, thecoach said.

One advantage that the squad won'thave is height. The average height onthe team is 5-foot-7, Althaus said. Buthe isn't worried, as defense has al-ways been a cornerstone of hiscoaching philosophy.

"We talk a lot about defensive play,"the coach said. "We try to hold teamsto under 35 points, and we feel any-time we can do that, we give our-selves a great opportunity to win thegame."

Rebounding will also be instrumen-tal to Olathe's success, he added.

"We're not very big, so we have tobe aggressive on the boards," Althaussaid.

As usual, the Lady Pirates have atough schedule. They'll take on rivalslike Rifle and Paonia, among others.They'll also compete in Montrose'sBlack Canyon Tournament this month,where they will go head to head withClass 4A Montrose and the 5A GrandJunction and Fruita squads.

Althaus, who is entering his ninthyear at the helm, said the Lady Pirateshave every intention of having anothergreat season.

"We're not starting over," Althaussaid. "We're reloading. We have goodkids coming up in the program ... we ex-pect to go out and do very well. We ex-pect to compete and win, and it doesn'treally matter who that is against."

Lady Pirates eye another successful seasonOlathe High Preview

517 Spring Creek Rd.Montrose

249-9012

1796 Hwy. 50Delta

874-7070

Good luck to all

sports participants!


Olathe High's Haley Turley works on adrill during a recent practice.

Dec. 9, Paonia, 5:30 p.m.Dec. 10, Delta, 2:30 p.m.Dec. 13, Palisade, 6 p.m.Dec. 16-17, Black Canyon Classic

at MHS, TBAJan. 6, at Roaring Fork, 5:30 p.m.Jan. 7, Cedaredge, 2:30 p.m.Jan. 12, at Gunnison, 5:30 p.m.Jan. 13, Grand Valey, 5:30 p.m.Jan. 19, at Rifle, 6 p.m.Jan. 20, at Hotchkiss, 5:30 p.m.

Jan. 27, at Coal Ridge, 5:30 p.m.Jan. 28, Basalt, 2:30 p.m.Feb. 3, Aspen, 5:30 p.m.Feb. 10, at Cedaredge, 5:30 p.m.Feb. 11, at Grand Valley, 2:30 p.m.Feb. 14, Hotchkiss, 5:30 p.m.Feb. 16, Gunnison, 5:30 p.m.Feb. 20-25, District Tournament, TBAMarch. 2-3, Regional Tourney, TBAMarch 8-10, State Tournament, TBA

OHS Girls Basketball 2011-12 Schedule


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2011 Winter Sports Preview