Basalt's seniors lead the Lady Longhorns toward top ranking
On Thursday afternoon at 3:45 p.m., in a dimly-lit gymnasium draped with purple championship banners, the Basalt girls’ basketball team was running wind sprints — back and forth, lungs pumping, sweat pouring, and legs shaking as they crossed the baseline.
Then they stopped, dropped to the wooden floor, and knocked out a set of 20 pushups, while other students lounged in the hallways, listlessly killing time and waiting to head home.
But those other students are not part of the number-one-ranked 3A basketball team in the state that has lost only one game so far this year, and has been consistently blowing out its competitors.
When the pushups are finished the girls grab a quick drink, then continue moving through an assortment of other drills, always keeping the intensity high, never letting up.
The helmswoman of this practice is head coach Carolyn Compton, who led the Longhorns to the state championship game last year, then watched it slip away.
At one point during practice, when Compton noticed that her team was not focusing, she stopped the action and said to the girls, “We are not running the floor and we are not playing defense. You have to take the next step and put in the extra effort if you want accomplish your goals.”
The goal, of course, is a state championship, and the Longhorns are certainly on track. But while hard work is at the core of their success, they are having a lot of fun along the way.
For example, even when they are doing pushups, each girl has a slight smirk on her face, because leading the exercise is coach Compton's six-year-old son, Shane, who coyly plops himself in front of the team and calls out each pushup while arduously pushing his pint-sized body up and down off the ground.
Then there is a drill called “11 man,” in which Compton jumps into the action and flies around the court with the girls, laughing when a layup is bricked or a pass is tossed into the bleachers.
And if you ask Compton about the source of all the success and gaiety, she'll point to five seniors who have been leading the way since day one.
The Players
Dayne Toney, Kat Fitzpatrick, Emily Peetz, Alia Munger and Hailey Guglielmo are the five starters and seniors on the team. As a unit, they play head and shoulders above their competitors with rapturous defense and a finely tuned offense that recently outscored Aspen, 68-32, and Gunnison, 61-34.
While there are many keys to the Longhorns’ success, none is more important than experience and familiarity.
“We have been playing with each other since seventh grade,” said Toney, the leading scorer on the team and a college prospect volleyball player, “I think this has always helped with our team chemistry.”
Fitzpatrick, the second leading scorer, who will attend college next year on a soccer scholarship, agreed.
“We've known each other for a long time, and it helps that we are all really good friends.”
Friendship aside, they are also extraordinary athletes in multiple sports. Toney, for example, led her volleyball team to the state tournament, while Fitzpatrick hopes to lead the Longhorns to a state title in soccer.
“It is a really athletic group,” continued Fitzpatrick, “and we all play multiple sports, so we are just really familiar with one another.”
Peetz, a four-year varsity point guard, extols her team's athleticism. “It is great to play with players like Kat and Dayne who are always streaking down the floor. It is easy to get them the ball and they both finish really well near the basket.”
Peetz also thrives under an offense that pushes the ball up the floor quickly, giving the defense minimal time to set up.
“We are definitely a transition team, and it is fun being able to control the pace of the game.”
Close calls
There was one game that the Longhorns simply could not control, and that was the state championship title game last year against Machebeuf, which resulted in a 55-46 loss. That year, the Longhorns had a stellar record, and were handily defeating their opponents, but they could not cap off that tremendous year.
Raising the question: With a parallel season in 2008, will the Longhorns be able to jump that last hurdle and grab the title? With a number-one ranking in the state, to which they have clung confidently since the preseason, the pressure is certainly on.
“Everyone is gunning for us,” said Toney. “And it seems that teams play extra hard against us in hopes of knocking us down.”
“I try not to think about it,” said Fitzpatrick, referring to her team's ranking. “We just need to focus on districts, and take it slowly.”
Aside from the pressure of being on top, the Longhorns also recognize that they still have not been tested so far this year, aside from early season loss to Montrose, a 4A school.
“We need to be prepared for the hard games,” said Peetz, “but I think that if we play to our ability, we can handle any team.”
Coach's eye
When coach Compton took over the program three years ago, she was adopting a fledgling team that went 8-12 in 2005.
That would change, rapidly.
By 2006, the Longhorns posted a 21-4 record, and suddenly seemed reignited and ready to compete with any team in the state. Then, in 2007, Basalt made a run to the state title game. And now, in 2008, they look poised to capture the elusive championship.
The key, from Compton's perspective, has been her ability to work for four straight years with a talented group of girls who are now seniors.
“They were very young when I met them,” said Compton, who coached them four years ago on the junior varsity team. “But since then, they have really bought into the program.”
The program, for Compton, is what guides a majority of championship-caliber teams.
“I am all about defense and playing solid, full-court basketball. To me, offense is not such a priority.”
Compton’s defensive approach is to rotate among four different types of match-up-man schemes that pressure the ball in different parts of the court.
“Their athleticism and speed make them a great team to coach,” said Compton of her players. “When they walk on the court, I expect them to be ready.”
Without question, this system has worked, and the players have responded.
“She is a tough coach,” said Fitzpatrick, “and we all trust and believe everything that she tells us.”
“She is the kind of coach that wants to make you a better player every time you go out on the court,” said Peetz.
Game time
After Thursday's practice, the girls got a night of sleep, then loaded onto the bus on Friday afternoon for an away game against Coal Ridge, which they soundly won, 58-40. And while the Longhorns were satisfied with the win, their attention was on the following game, Saturday's primetime matchup against rival Roaring Fork, arguably the second strongest team in the league.
The game began at a torrential pace, with both teams flying up and down the court and fast-breaking like mad. Basalt, in prime form, was looking strong, as if they were just waiting for Roaring Fork to crack under the pressure. Fitzpatrick glided up and down the court, dishing the ball to Toney, who controlled the glass.
But as the second and third quarters rolled around, the Longhorns were suddenly faced with an unexpected situation — Roaring Fork was not cracking and not missing shots.
The game became dramatically intense, with lead changes, momentum swings and disputed foul calls. Hovering in the minds of Basalt's fans was a brooding question: Were the Longhorns about to lose their first conference game of the season?
With just under nine seconds left in the game, Basalt held a two-point lead. A Roaring Fork foul sent Fitzpatrick to the line, at which point the gym fell painfully silent. Fitzpatrick, who had been shaky at the line throughout the game, stepped up and nailed both shots, icing the game. The crowd breathed a sigh of relief, the tension drained out of the gym, and the Longhorns picked up another victory.
“This was an important game for us,” said Compton. “We need to be challenged, and this will help us prepare for big games.”
The game also highlighted the play of Munger and Guglielmo — two players who tend to slip under the radar, but came up hugely from the line and played solidly throughout the game. And this, in essence, seems to be what the team is all about — players who step up and support one another, play by play, game by game.
So as the five seniors walked off the court on Saturday night, as they have for four years
together, they represented not merely another win, but the whole experience of what it takes to win — wind sprints in an empty gym on a Thursday afternoon, staining the wooden floor with their sweat, fours years of ardent dedication and staring up at purple banners with a state title in sight.
“These girls have come a long way,” said Compton. “I have total faith that we have what it takes to go all the way, and I really think we are getting there.”
bastian@aspendailynews.com