Basketball Recap: Grand Junction Central Takes a Loss

Grand Junction Central was the 38-37 winner over Palisade when they last played one another back in January of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Grand Junction Central Warriors came up short against the Palisade Bulldogs on Friday, falling 69-45. While losing is never fun, the Warriors can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 231st, while the Bulldogs are ranked 114th).

Despite the loss, Grand Junction Central saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Blake Rooks dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds. That was a full 40% of Grand Junction Central's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. Broly Watts also deserves some recognition as he scored his first points of the season.

Leading Palisade to victory were Hunter Howard and Carter Hayward. Howard went 7 for 13 on his way to 17 points in addition to eight boards and five assists, while Hayward went 6 of 8 en route to 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 scored nine points and three steals.

Grand Junction Central has 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. As for Palisade, their victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-8.

Coincidentally, the two teams 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.