Basketball Recap: Boulder Takes Loss Despite Strong Efforts from Gaby Mccollester and Megan Matthews

Boulder lost against Arvada West back in December of 2023 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Boulder Panthers lost 46-26 to the Arvada West Wildcats. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 116th, while the Wildcats are ranked 17th).

Boulder's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Megan Matthews, who posted 15 points, and Gaby Mccollester, who put up a point and 14 boards. The dominant performance also gave Mccollester a new career-high in blocks (two).

Even though they lost, Boulder smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in three consecutive matchups.

Arvada West can attribute much of their success to Sara Walker, who had nine points along with five rebounds and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Saylor Swanson, who scored ten points and three steals.

Boulder's loss dropped their record down to 5-6. As for Arvada West, the victory (which was their seventh in a row) raised their record to 9-1.

Boulder wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 51-40 win against Mountain Range on the 14th. Arvada West has also already played their next contest, a 50-43 victory against Columbine on the 13th.