The Grand County High School (GCHS) boys basketball team continued its summer program playing five varsity and four junior varsity games over two days on Friday and Saturday, June 14 and 15, in Parachute, Colorado, where especially the underclassmen gained valuable high school basketball experience.
The varsity team went 2-1 the first day, beating host Grand Valley, then Paonia, before losing to Grand Valley Alumni, which GCHS boys basketball coach Scott Horton said was a collection of college athletes, not necessarily of basketball, who had come through the Grand Valley program.
On Saturday, the GCHS Red Devils beat Paiute Valley before Grand Valley avenged its loss to the Red Devils from the day before. Over the two days, the Red Devils JV team went 1-3, falling to Rangely varsity, Ridgway and Grand Valley 2, while beating Grand Valley 3.
“We were down a bunch of people this week, so we had younger guys playing varsity, it was good,” Horton said.
Horton said that Kaine Allred and Milo Birdwell, both seniors next season, had excellent showings in Parachute.
“Milo shot the ball better than I think I’ve ever seen him shoot it before,” he said.
Horton also noted that incoming freshmen Jayden Mecham, Brayden Castor and Wyatt Miller handled themselves very well.
The GCHS Red Devils will now turn their attention to the Colorado Mesa University summer camp in Grand Junction, Colorado, which is a four-day camp from Monday, June 24, through Thursday, June 27. GCHS will field a varsity, JV and C team, with some overlap between the teams, meaning most of the younger players will play 20 games.
“It’s a lot of basketball, and each kid will get their share,” Horton said. “We’ve done well there in the past.”
Horton said the teams on the floor at CMU will be the ones that most closely resemble where the athletes will be placed in the regular season.
“This tournament is where we start putting players where they’ll be during the season,” he said. “It’s a very competitive tournament.”
High schoolers gear up for CMU camp
“It’s a very competitive tournament.”
