Basketball Recap: Palisade Extends Home Winning Streak to Six

Palisade lost to Grand Junction Central back in January of 2024, but they didn't allow them the same satisfaction on Friday. The Palisade Bulldogs put the hurt on the Grand Junction Central Warriors with a sharp 69-45 victory. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 114th, while the Warriors are ranked 231st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Carter Hayward

Field Goal Percentage (Career)

01/31/25 vs Grand Junction Central	75%
12/12/24 vs Sierra	71%
01/28/25 vs Glenwood Springs	56%
01/14/25 @ Montrose	50%
12/20/24 vs Palmer Ridge	50%

Palisade was led to victory by Hunter Howard and Carter Hayward. Howard went 7 for 13 en route to 17 points along with eight rebounds and five assists, while Hayward went 6 of 8 to rack up 16 points and three steals. The dominant performance also gave Hayward a new career-high in shooting accuracy (75%). Another player making a difference was LJ Ballenger, who posted nine points and three steals.

They weren't the only ones working in the assist department: Palisade was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Grand Junction Central only racked up five assists.

Despite the loss, Grand Junction Central still got an impressive performance from Blake Rooks, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 boards. That was a full 40% of Grand Junction Central's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's had more than a third of the team's points. Broly Watts also deserves some recognition as he scored his first points of the season.

Palisade pushed their record up to 9-8 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.2 points over those games. As for Grand Junction Central, they have been struggling recently as they've lost seven of their last eight matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-15 record this season.

Coincidentally, Palisade and Grand Junction Central will both be playing Montrose the next time they take the court. Grand Junction Central will head out to face Montrose at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, while Palisade will host them at 7:00 p.m. on February 7th.