Barbara Lawlor, Gilpin County.  No freshmen, no juniors, but that’s okay. The Gilpin High School girls basketball team is a tight-unit with five seniors who have played together for most of their high school careers and a bunch of seniors who are eager to improve and have already formed a cohesive bond of commitment.

Coach Jeff Schuessler says, “We have a small team this year with respect for numbers, but I think we have the most committed team since 2015. We are all sophomores and seniors so it is a good balance between youth and senior experience. I look for us to just get better and better as the season progresses and some of our younger players mature on the court.

Last Thursday, Nov. 30, the Eagles hosted North Park and lost a close, hard fought game, 33-37. The Gilpin girls were slow to start, falling behind 11-23 in the first half. But then they came to life, outscore North Park 10-6 in the third quarter and 12-8 in the second quarter but it was still four points short of catching up.

Period scores:

4-9 7-14 10-6 12-8

Individual scores:

Aspen Nadeau: 1 assist, 2 steals

Lena Warren: 1 point, 1/2 free throws, 3 rebounds, 2 steals

Cicely Lepro: 7 points, 1 three-pointer, 6 rebounds, 2 steals

Katelyn Armstrong: 3 points, 1 three-pointer, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals

Samantha Smith: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block

Alicia Johnson: 5 points, 1 three-pointer

Jessica Wilhelm: 13 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks

Nicole Adams: 2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Carly Johnson: 1 steal

(Originally published in the December 7, 2017 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)