The Summit High School girls basketball team is rolling with momentum as they enter the latter half of the season. On Friday, Jan. 28, they came into their game against the 5-10 Steamboat Springs Sailors poised and ready to continue to make a statement to the rest of the 4A Western Slope league teams.

The Tigers were ranked second in the league Friday with a 4-1 record against league opponents. The Sailors were ranked third also with a 4-1 record, but Summit head coach Kayle Walker Burns said the team was eager to distance themselves from the Sailors.

“I want to show the league the difference between second place and third place,” Burns said.

The Tigers dominated from the opening tipoff. The team had one of their best starts of the season with Brina Babich, Paola Arredondo, Emily Koetteritz and Autumn Rivera to going on a 12-0 run.

The Tigers played tough defense, making it hard for the visiting Sailors to score. The Tigers led 14-2 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Summit found themselves in a little bit of a offensive lull. Yet, that did not last for long. Sarah Pappas was instrumental in making midrange shots from both sides of the basket to extend the Tiger lead to 31-9 at halftime.

Arredondo and Pappas helped continue to put pressure on the Sailors and score points in the second half. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, many of the younger players were able to get valuable varsity minutes as they continued to maintain the Tigers lead. Summit High School won its ninth game of the season as it defeated Steamboat Springs 46-25.

“My great team, the one that works together and is a team effort, really showed up today,” Burns said. “It’s great when we can spread out the scoring. It was a great overall team effort.”

The Tigers will have a bigger test on Tuesday, Feb. 1, when they play a competitive Glenwood Springs team. Glenwood is currently undefeated in league play.

“I want Glenwood to know that we are coming for them,” Burns said. “We had our best season a few seasons ago with 10 wins, and we are at nine right now. We have goals for ourselves as a team to make it to playoffs and have one of the best seasons we have ever had.”