Basketball Recap: Rifle Comes Up Short

Rifle was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They received a blow as they fell 70-53 to the Delta Panthers. The Bears lost against the Panthers in their previous head to head back in January of 2024, too, but the margin this time around was much closer than the 73-35 score last time.

Despite the loss, Rifle still got an impressive performance from Alex Gonzalez, who went 8 of 20 on his way to 33 points and five boards. The dominant performance gave Gonzalez a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Adan Medina, who posted 11 points.

Delta's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Erik Baier, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds. Baier is on a roll when it comes to boards, as he's now pulled down eight or more in the last six games he's played. Another player making a difference was Joe Black, who scored 16 points.

Rifle's record is now 2-9. As for Delta, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 5-7.

Rifle didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 66-38 loss against Moffat County on the 18th. As for Delta, they will take on Basalt at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Delta knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully Basalt likes a good challenge.