The Summit High School girls basketball team closed out the month of January with two back-to-back losses, but to start February the team is once again in the midst of another winning streak.

After defeating Coal Ridge High School and Basalt High School last week,  Summit looked to extend its winning streak to three games with a win over Battle Mountain High School on Wednesday, Feb. 8, in Breckenridge.

Summit may have been challenged in the early parts of the game, but once the players found a rhythm, the Tigers dominated the Battle Mountain Huskies to win 76-35.

In the first quarter, Summit moved slow offensively. The Tigers put up plenty of shots, but many failed to find the back of the net.

On the other side of the court, Battle Mountain pulled to an early lead by executing on fast-break opportunities as well as mid-range jumpers. 

Summit started to find its groove in the latter part of the opening quarter as senior Autumn Rivera and senior Brina Babich put points on the board. 

Sinking a long-range 2-pointer at the buzzer, junior Doussouba Sylla tied the game at 10-10 to go into the second quarter. 

With some momentum heading into the second quarter, Summit fired shots with confidence from just about everywhere on the court. 

Rivera led the scoring by putting up points from inside the paint and along the baselines while senior Kelley Duffy made a 3-pointer. On defense, senior Paola Arredondo injected the game with a fierce intensity, which frazzled and confused the Huskies.

Summit held Battle Mountain to 3 points in the second quarter to go into halftime leading 23-13.

“We have been talking about it, and we have not really had a good past four games,” Babich said of the team’s play in the first half. “We start really slow. We have been saying for everyone to be selfish. Everybody needs to score. Everybody needs to rebound. If you do all of that, we are going to win the game. We just picked it up because everybody started scoring.”

Battle Mountain made several adjustments during halftime and started the fresh half with a 5-0 run. Summit struggled to find a way to stop Battle Mountain but continued to maintain a marginal lead. 

Midway through the third quarter, Summit caught fire again and brought its lead back to 10 points after a made 3-pointer from along the baseline by Sylla.

Freshman Kenya Rodriguez and junior Kayla Smith continued to pad Summit’s lead by doing work on both ends of the floor. The duo played tough defense while moving on offense to create great opportunities.

Following an onslaught of points, Summit went into the final quarter with a commanding 44-30 lead.

The Tigers fully ran away with the contest in the fourth quarter. Duffy and Sylla caught nothing but net from 3-point range, and Rivera continued to crash inside the paint for close-range points.

Battle Mountain attempted to claw its way back into the game, but Arredondo and the Summit defense kept the Huskies from scoring for most of the final quarter.

Forced to play aggressively in hopes of getting back into the game, Battle Mountain found itself in foul trouble, which resulted in a plethora of points from the charity stripe for Summit.

Rodriguez and the rest of the Summit bench closed out the game to defeat Battle Mountain by 41 points, 76-35. 

The 41-point win not only marks the largest win the Summit girls basketball team has had all season, but it is also the first time the program has surpassed 70 points in a game since 2008 when Summit beat Jefferson High School, 72-17. 

After playing in the same league for many years — and being well-known rivals — beating Battle Mountain was special for a lot of the Summit seniors. 

In fact, almost two years ago to the day, Battle Mountain defeated Summit 72-34. On Wednesday night however, the Tigers successfully enacted their revenge on the Huskies. 

“It definitely felt really good,” Babich said of the win. “It was good to have a last win against Battle.”

With its third-consecutive win, Summit advances to 10-7 on the season with a 6-1 4A Western Slope record. 

Up next, the Summit girls basketball team will host Moffat County High School on Friday, Feb. 10, for its senior night game. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. 

“I am looking forward to getting a triple-double,” Babich said. “I need a triple-double before my senior season is over, and I want to have the best game I have played. I also want to make sure my team has the best game we have had, and we beat Moffat by a lot.”