Gunnison beats Olathe, 58-31

The Gunnison High School girls basketball team started off the new year 1-1 last weekend, moving them to 3-6 overall as they head into a big week.

The Cowboys opened up the new year on Friday, Jan. 9, at Cedaredge, losing in a close game 40-38.

“Girls battled hard, played hard and played well,” Head Coach Chad Terry said. “The difference really in that game is we just had too many turnovers in the first half to be honest.”

The Cowboys finished the first half down 12-17 and even though they ended up winning the second half, it wasn’t enough. Terry said that the defensive effort was pretty good, but the hole that the turnovers put them in during the first half made the difference in the game.

The Cowboys got Ashlyn Cowan back from injury and she led the team in scoring in her return, posting 10 points. Brooke Terry scored nine of her own, Kayla Vincent had seven and Autumn Terry,  Althea Stansberry and Josie Whinnery all each had four points.

The Cowboys bounced back though, defeating Olathe on Saturday, Jan. 10, in their first game at home of the new year 58-31 after a big second half.

“We took a timeout [at the end of the third quarter] and really didn’t make any adjustments and we just took off from there and really kind of locked down on defense and ended up really just putting them away,” Terry said. “We went on like a 6-0 run to end the quarter and then just kept on the force. That was really fun.”

The Cowboys outscored the Pirates 32-13 in the second half, largely due to their defensive effort and the return of Cowan, Terry said. She was a bit rusty on Friday night, Terry said, but after settling in her impact on Saturday was huge.

The Cowboys had four players post double-figure efforts. Cowan and Vincent together led the Cowboys in scoring on Saturday, each posting 14-point games. The Terry sisters also each had big games, with Brooke scoring 13 and Autumn adding 10. Stansberry had six and Whinnery had one to round out the scoring for the Cowboys.

The Cowboys will now have to play three games in the next five days with the first being a home contest against the Salida Spartans on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Salida is 5-2 to start the year and the 12th ranked 3A team by the CHSAA.

Terry emphasized that the game will be a challenge and that the Cowboys will have their work cut out for them, especially on defense. The Cowboys have been working on both individual defense as well as team defense in preparation.

After Tuesday’s game the Cowboys will host the Aspen Skiers (0-5) on Thursday, Jan. 15, and then they’ll finish the week out by hosting Meeker (6-0) on Saturday, Jan. 17.

Jack Sellner can be reached at jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com.