The Gunnison High School boys basketball team’s season came to an end with their loss on Saturday, but the Cowboys are hanging their heads high as they continue to build the identity of Gunnison basketball.
The Cowboys hosted the Roaring Fork Rams on Saturday, Feb. 28, losing 70-56 in their final regular season game.
The Rams are a top 10 3A team in the state and finished the regular season with a 20-3 record and were undefeated in league play. Still, the Cowboys were able to hang around for most of the game.
“They had nothing to lose in that last game,” said head coach Christian Aguilar. “They just kind of played free flow and they just competed. I think that's the best part about that entire game, which is [that] they competed from start to finish.”
The Cowboys were leading for much of the first half and went into halftime with a 35-30 lead. The Rams outscored the Cowboys 24-9 in the third quarter and took a 10 point lead going into the fourth quarter that they never relinquished.
Landon Miller finished the game with 21 points to lead the Cowboys. Max Peluso added 15 of his own, Jorge Perez scored eight points, Jack Stone added five, Asher Woytek ended with four points and Jake Ebbott rounded out the scoring with three points.
Despite the loss, Aguilar was proud of the way the boys fought till the final whistle of the season.
“I was hoping for a better record,” said Aguilar “The goals I set out for myself, we did not meet [and] the goals that the boys set out for themselves, we did not meet. But it's the adversity, the resilience, and just the grit to just go out on a weekly basis and just really fight every single week.”
Now that the season has come to an end, it also means the end of the road for the Cowboys’ five seniors. Miller, Peluso, Ebbott, Cooper Boardman and Ryder Vincent have played their final game in a Cowboy uniform.
“Their impact was very significant to the program,” said Aguilar. “I'm incredibly proud of their contributions and the legacy that they leave behind here.”
Aguilar emphasized that the five seniors have been instrumental in instituting a new identity and turning the program around.
Now it is up to the junior and sophomore class to take the reins and finish what the seniors have started. Perez and Woytek are two players that Aguilar expects to take a significant jump next year and lead the team on and off the court.
“The underclassmen, they just live, breathe and eat basketball,” said Aguilar.
Even though this season didn’t play out the way Aguilar and the team would have hoped, there is a lot of optimism and positivity heading into next season. Aguilar and the underclassmen are excited for what the future holds.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here