The Aspen Skiers waltzed into their matchup on Saturday with eight straight wins but they left with nine. They strolled past Rifle with points to spare, taking the game 52-35. Given Aspen's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 27th, while Rifle is ranked 245th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Henry Hurd was a one-man wrecking crew for Aspen as he scored 14 points along with nine rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Hurd has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Tommy Franceschi, who scored 11 points.
Despite the loss, Rifle still got an impressive performance from Jade Cunningham, who scored 11 points.
Aspen pushed their record up to 11-1 with that victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.8 points per game. As for Rifle, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost eight of their last nine games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-12 record this season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Aspen and Vail Mountain will face off at 7:00 p.m. on January 23rd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. As for Rifle, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Summit at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Summit is coming into the match hot, having won their last three games.
