Editor’s Note: The article has been updated in order to reflect the correct record of the Summit girls basketball team. The team is 1-2 after playing three games.

After defeating Evergreen High School on Saturday, Dec. 3, the Summit girls basketball team fell to D’Evelyn High School in its first away game of the season on Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Summit tried to hang tough against the D’Evelyn Jaguars, but ultimately the team lost 64-18 in the opening round of the Jeffco Jungle Jam Tournament.

Heading into the first two games of the season, the Tigers knew they would have their hands full with some of the most competitive teams in the 4A classification. 

Last season, both Evergreen and D’Evelyn advanced to the 4A state playoffs alongside Summit, which had its first playoff appearance in over 15 years. Summit went onto the second round of the playoffs before being eliminated by Canon City, and Evergreen lost in the first round. D’Evelyn made it to the elite eight in the state playoffs.

Tigers head coach Kayle Walker Burns strategically planned this season’s schedule so that Summit would be challenged early in the season. 

While they played well as a team against Evergreen, with senior Autumn Rivera notching 28 points in the Tigers’ 48-45 win, Summit failed to play with the same gusto against D’Evelyn Wednesday night.

From the opening tip off, D’Evelyn showed why it is one of the top ranked teams in the state. The Jaguars quickly mounted a lead while controlling the pace of the game, preventing the Tigers from having very many offensive opportunities. 

Summit continued to search for a way to score while D’Evelyn put up 9 points in a span of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. 

Seniors Kelley Duffy and Joselin Roque did everything they could to get something going for the Tigers, but they were often stopped by the press of the Jaguars. 

Summit junior Gracelyn Gravert successfully made a single layup, and Summit trailed 23-2 to end the first quarter. 

In the second quarter, D’Evelyn continued to apply pressure and put the game further and further out of reach for the Tigers.

D’Evelyn scored 15 points in the second quarter with contributions from juniors Peyton Marvel and Macy Scheer. At halftime, Summit trailed 38-6. 

“It is super discouraging,” Rivera said while talking about D’Evelyn’s press in the first half. “If you can’t get the ball past half court, you are not going to score. At halftime, we talked about doing our best and learning. Going into the second half we had a less of a mindset of fear — but rather tried to turn it around for the better.”

Summit attempted to mount a comeback in the second half, but D’Evelyn scored 24 points in the third quarter to staunch the effort. Rivera tried to take control and score, but D’Evelyn continued to force turnovers.

By the end of the game, D’Evelyn had 27 steals. Marvel snagged 13 of the team’s 27 steals. Summit closed the game with points from Rivera and Gravert, but the team fell to D’Evelyn in the first round of the Jeffco Jungle Jam Tournament, 64-18.

“We are trying to figure out who we are as this new team,” Rivera said. “We weren’t as ready as we needed to be. Our press break is our biggest area of struggle and just our biggest area that needs growth.”

With the loss, Summit moves to 1-1 on the season while D’Evelyn improves to 4-0.

On Friday, Summit faced 5A’s Longmont High School in the consolation bracket of the pre-holiday basketball tournament. 

Prior to Summit’s game against Longmont, Rivera said the team was hoping to play tough coming off a strong practice on Thursday.

“(Thursday) was one of our best practices so far,” Rivera said. “We had a lot of people yesterday wanting to get better. We are continuing with the mind set that games are the hard part and practices is where you get better.”

Summit hung tough against Longmont with senior captain Paola Arredondo adding energy to the lineup after being absent for the first two games of the season.

Summit challenged Longmont to the final minute of the game, but ultimately was not able to muster a win, losing 48-44.

Summit will now have a week of rest before it takes on Alamosa High School in Alamosa on Friday, Dec. 16, and Centauri High School on Saturday, Dec. 17.