NEDERLAND - There is rivalry in the air when the Nederland Panthers and the Gilpin County School Eagles play each other in sporting competitions. There is a bigger crowd, and the fans are loud and sometimes a bit rambunctious. At the same time, sometimes the athletes are friends, neighbors, and have at times been classmates. 

On December 9, 2024, the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams met on the court at the Nederland High School Gymnasium. Each year it seems the weather is bitterly cold and snowy outside while the gym heats up inside as the crowd gets bigger and louder. 

It was a special night for Panther fans for two reasons. First of all, it was a night to fundraise for Nederland Middle-Senior High School alum Miles Pancoast. Pancoast is on a wheelchair rugby team, the Denver Barbarians. The team competes around the country and all the proceeds will go to the rugby team’s expenses and travel. The fundraiser was hosted by the Nederland High School National Honor Society. 

The highlight of the night for Nederland was when the Nederland girls’ basketball team stepped onto the court. It has been five years since the Panthers have had a girls’ basketball team. This season they are playing a JV schedule. Despite their lack of team experience they stepped out on that court looking confident, with their Nederland High School alum coach Kate Cannon.

Sean DePaula, Vice Principal and athletic director of Nederland Middle-Senior High School (NMSHS), said “Each year, we’ve continued to evaluate interest, but we fell short of having enough students. As we were developing schedules this past spring, I sat down with the girls in May and told them that they had to commit one way or the other before the school year ended. Although some students showed trepidation initially, they wanted to help the school and their friends out. 

“This year we are thrilled to have 15 girls on the roster. Huge kudos to Coach Kate. She is doing a great job building the culture. Going from no team to 15 girls has been really exciting, and she’s out there making practice fun, building a family among the girls, and keeping the girls motivated.”

DePaula added, “I am incredibly proud of the team for preserving, taking risks, and making this season happen. It really is exciting for Nederland to have girls’ basketball back. I’m excited to see where they will go this year and into the future.”

Coach Kate says that she is “over the moon excited to have a girls’ team at NHS again!” She has been wanting to be a part of the program since she graduated from NMSHS. 

Coach Kate says that the team’s “strengths are in the girls’ overall athleticism and willingness to learn. We are a young team, with not much experience, so a lot of what we have been working on are the fundamentals – shooting, dribbling, passing – and how to work together as a team.” 

She is blown away by how the girls are coming together and how they are learning to trust each other on the court. Winning would be great, but Coach Kate wants these players to learn to love basketball. “At the end of the day it is just a game and we should have fun playing a game.” 

Katura Atherton, head coach of the Gilpin Eagles girls’ varsity basketball team, said that this season they are excited to see four freshmen on their JV team, which is one of the biggest freshman classes they have had in a long time. Many of the Gilpin School players start playing in fifth grade so they have experience by the time they reach the JV team. 

Coach Atherton says, “We have created a seamless girls’ program from fifth grade through twelfth grade. We share coaches between middle school and high school and create goals for our entire program.”

She says that with their athleticism and skill, they are a fast-paced transition-and-press team. Their goal with “every JV player is to get them ready for varsity participation.”

Coach Atherton’s goals for the team this season “are focused on increasing shooting percentage, decreasing turnovers, and being the best-conditioned team. We place a high emphasis on our character development and sportsmanship. Our main goal is to build strong, character-focused women through education-based athletics.”

In the first seconds of the girls’ game, Nederland sophomore Eva Wrobel scored a three-point shot. It was clear the Panthers came to play some basketball. The Eagles answered with their own points on the scoreboard. 

Throughout the first half the Eagles were always ahead, but by the end of the third quarter the Panthers had made up the deficit and the score was even at 25. 

The Eagles charged ahead at the end and the final score was Nederland 28, Gilpin 38.  Sophomore Eva Wrobel scored 12 points for the Panthers. Nederland’s Adeline Buckland scored 9 points and Naima Bullings had 3 steals. 

The Eagles boys’ basketball teams are coached by Cassidy Gioia and Brian Gioia. The Panthers are coached by John Leventhal and Stephen LeFaiver. 

The Panther basketball program is growing. Levethal and LeFaiver, along with middle school coaches Kevin Cronan (boys) and Val Gane (girls), are playing a part in the growth. LeFaiver says about this year’s boys’ team that “It is so much fun to work with this team and an honor to be a part of it. They are a great mix of players, some who have never played before and others who are ‘veterans.’ Regardless, they come with great attitudes each and every day.”

The JV boys’ basketball teams ran on the court with great enthusiasm when it was their turn to play. During the first half the score was quite even. Then, the Panthers pulled ahead in the third quarter. The game ended with Nederland winning the game 41 to 25. The high scorer for Nederland during the JV game was sophomore Simon Schlosser with 9 points. 

The varsity boys concluded the evening with their game. 

Every season Coach Leventhal has a team motto. This year it is “Step up!” The Panthers are a younger and more inexperienced team this season. Leventhal says, “We know that each individual must step up to the challenge and leaders must do the same. Supporting each other, trusting each other, and enjoying the game are some of the keys to success that we are trying to achieve.” 

Leventhal also added, “We have high hopes for the season as these kids are working their hardest and working their hearts out! This team is already displaying a great deal of unselfish play and team unity. There is so much room for improvement this year and we look forward to seeing these guys grow as individual players, as young men, and as a team. We are stressing fundamentals and unselfishness.”

These mountain teams seemed to be evenly matched as the game progressed. It looked like the Panthers would pull off the win, but the Eagles would not give up easily. With seconds left in the game Nederland was ahead by three points. Gilpin County put up a shot and it went in. It was a two-point shot. Nederland won the game. The final score was Nederland 33, Gilpin County 32. 

High scorer for the Panthers was junior Drew Hertzfeld with seven points. Junior Indio Koonz and sophomore Simon Schlosser each had 6 points. Senior Cedar Shupe led the Panthers in rebounds. 

The Eagles and Panthers will meet again on the court. They will also see each other in the community as friends, neighbors, and maybe colleagues someday. As someone said, “It is great to see our mountain kids playing ball.”

Editor’s note: Gilpin County School had not entered stats on MaxPreps at the time of printing.