Preview: Aspen Skiers vs. Coal Ridge Titans
Aspen has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will take on the Coal Ridge Titans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Aspen will be strutting in after a victory while Coal Ridge will be coming in after a loss.
Aspen stacked a fifth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. They claimed a resounding 52-25 win over Vail Mountain at home. Given Aspen's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 30th, while Vail Mountain is ranked 185th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Aspen's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Henry Hurd, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Tommy Franceschi, who scored nine points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, Coal Ridge came up short against Basalt on Saturday and fell 50-39.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Ben Simons, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 12 rebounds. He hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for seven straight games. Lochlan Wade was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Aspen pushed their record up to 12-1 with that victory, which was their ninth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.0 points per game. As for Coal Ridge, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-7 record this season.
Aspen and Coal Ridge were neck-and-neck when the teams last played back in February of 2023, but Aspen came up empty-handed after a 42-41 loss. Thankfully for Aspen, Andres Mendoza (who scored 20 points) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
