Barbara Lawlor, Gilpin County. It was all going so well. The Gilpin High School boys basketball team was on top of their game in the first half Friday night against the Belleview Christian Bruins. It was a home game with a large crowd expecting to see the Eagles pull in a victory.

For the first two periods, the Gilpin boys scored, pulled in the rebounds, kept the ball away from the Bruins' defensive efforts, and hit the lockers with a 33-22, certainly not a slam-dunk, but comfortable.

And then things went sour. Shots did not connect, balls were snatched from Eagle's grasp, and fouls were made. Early in the fourth period, Belleview's offense exploded and they edged ahead 51-46. Gilpin fought back and with less than a minute left in the game, capitalized on free throws and edged the score to 55-56.

At 16 seconds left, the Bruins had four chances at the free throw line, missed three and caught one, making it a two-point game. The crowd was screaming. Eagle Matt Immordino looked at the basketball and streaked for it, sinking it with three seconds on the clock, to tie the game at 57.

The buzzer sounded and the game went into overtime. Immordino put up the first score but it was answered by a 3-pointer from the Bruins and the Eagles were down one. Gilpin's Eryk Lorenz stepped up and gave the lead to the Eagles 61-60. Chase Boulter sank a free throw and it was a two-point game as the overtime clock ran down.

A Bruin three-pointer and four successful free throws in a row and Belleview ended up with a 72-66 win. It was a hard loss for the team, the coaches and the fans. Chase Boulter had a phenomenal game with 25 points and 20 rebounds

Period scores: 12-9  21-13  11-16  13-19   9-15

Individual statistics:

Nick Peterson: 4 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals

Eryk Lorenz: 4 points, 5 rebounds

Matt Immordino: 22 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals, 1 block

Jonathan Ramsey: 5 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists 2 steals

Bjorn Tomlinson: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block

Chase Boulter: 25 points, 20 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks

On Monday, the Eagles hosted the Cornerstone Christian Bulldogs and were pummeled 57-35, giving Gilpin a 5-9 record.

Period scores: 12-19  11-17  4-7  8-14

Individual statistics:

Nick Peterson: 1 point, 2 rebounds, 1 assist

Eryk Lorenz: 3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal

Matt Immordino: 9 points, 2 steals

Joonathan Ramsey: 6 points, 2 rebounds

Bjorn Tommlinson: 8  points, 1 3-pointer, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block

Chase Boulter: 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals,1 block.

The next home games are on Thursday, February 5, against Longmont Christian at 7:30 p.m.; and on Tuesday, February 10 against Rocky Mountain Lutheran at 8 p.m.