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Summit girls silence Battle Mountain on the court, 59-38

Summit's Natalie Gray lines up for a free throw during a home game against Battle Mountain on Feb. 4. The Tigers won, 59-38.
Phil Lindeman / plindeman@summitdaily.com |

Summit vs. Battle Mountain, girl’s basketball

1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q Final

Summit 14 19 11 15 59

BMHS 7 12 9 10 38

FRISCO — How sweet it is to win the grudge match.

On Thursday night, the Summit girl’s basketball team (6-9 overall, 2-7 league) took to the court with fire in their bellies and a score to settle. The Tigers suffered a 29-40 loss to cross-county rivals Battle Mountain (5-10 overall, 3-7 league) on Jan. 12 in Edwards, but this was senior night on home hardwood, and the girls weren’t going down without a fight.

Actually, they weren’t going down at all. The Tigers set the tempo early and maintained energy until the final buzzer to record an impressive 59-38 win. Summit out-passed and out-hustled their foes to eventually outscore them in every frame — something the home team hasn’t done much this season.



“Our passing was very clean today and we didn’t have nearly as many turnovers as we have before,” head coach Colton St. Peter said after the win. “I like that we’re getting solid games in a row, one after the other. They’re playing solidly for the entire 32 minutes. That really makes the difference.”

Summit entered the game knowing they had to shut down Battle Mountain’s two leading scorers, Jessica Sullivan and Monique Stevens, by isolating them outside of the arc to force turnovers and dominate possession.



The Tigers starting line was up to the challenge. Senior captains Jess Horii and Megan McDonnell entered the game with guns blazing. Horii had her best game of the season on both sides of the ball, going three-for-three on field goals for six points with seven rebounds and two steals. McDonnell continued to wow the crowd with a team-leading 22 points on nine-of-eleven field goals, plus 10 rebounds, five steals and four assists. She’s absolutely unstoppable when she gets in a groove.

But this was senior night, and that meant every senior was anxious to contribute. The varsity team’s other two seniors, Margie Ramirez and Autumn Ward, put up season-best numbers, with Ramirez notching four points and four rebounds, while Ward had six points and three rebounds.

Then came the juniors. Natalie Gray had four points and seven rebounds, and Kate Tomlinson had seven points with three rebounds. Tomlinson had the Tigers’ only three-pointer of the game, but it hardly mattered when the defense was able to choke the Huskies to allow just one on their side.

The Tigers commanded the court from start to finish, and man, did it lead to a few gorgeous plays. McDonnell and sophomore Haleigh Lecklitner put together a series of highlight drives halfway through the third, when McDonnell drew three defenders down the line before ditching it to a wide-open Lecklitner for an alley-oop. They did it again on the very next play after a steal in Summit territory.

Needless to say, Summit executed the isolate-and-dominate game plan to perfection. The score started to slips slightly in the final four minutes — Battle Mountain went on a 6-0 run at one point — but it was too little, too late. They put on a precise show, and at the tail end of the season that’s what St. Peter wants to see.

“We’re hoping to keep with that consistent play through the end of the stretch,” St. Peter said. “It’s about building confidence in practice. It doesn’t just come from games. It comes from all the hours you spend on the court before and after.”

The Tigers next face Palisade for the final home game on Saturday. Girls start at 11 a.m., followed by the boys at 12:30 p.m.

Tough time in Edwards

If only the Summit boy’s team had found the same energy.

Battle Mountain boy’s basketball took care of business on Thursday night in Edwards, dispatching Summit, 54-44, to set up a Friday showdown against Palisade with second place in the 4A Western Slope on the line.

As for Summit, post-season hopes are long gone. The team sits at 1-15 overall and 1-9 in the league heading into the final home game against Palisade.


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