On December 17th, 18th, and 19th the Palisade Boys’ Basketball team played against Moffat County on the 17th, Palmer Ridge on the 18th, and Ponderosa on the 20th. All the teams had played hard and played their best, but the Palisade boys’ took the overall win.
The winning score of the first game was 70-35 with 17 assists and 36 rebounds. The winning score on the second game was 67-29 with 15 assists and 33 rebounds. Lastly, the winning score of the last game was 80-50. With these great games, the boys’ carried a great attitude and great sportsmanship.
With this season being such a great year and having great teammates, there are some that are unfortunately leaving after this season. Senior Branson Springer is very dedicated to basketball and has been playing since 4th grade. He is also extremely dedicated to his position, a post player. Since Springer is graduating this year, he shared how he feels about this season. Springer stated, “Goals for me, are a lot of team successes. Playing our best every night is one of my big goals, because making sure we’re going out there and making the best play, every game is important for me.”
Seeing how he talks about getting each point is important, he had a specific area of his game where he would like to improve. Springer states, “Shooting is a big area that I need to be working on, because there’s definitely a lot of open shots that I need to make in order for us to win.” Springer, noticing what he needs to improve upon is very good for not only him but his whole team as well. Springer, willing to realize what he needs to work on, will drive the whole team to a better chance at victory every game they play. Springer also stated what he could do to work on the specific area he needs to improve. Springer states, “Making sure I always get extra shots after practice is big for me, but also not being too worried about the shots I make, just going out there and doing my best.”
Springer, reflecting on the season so far, had led him to realize a significant moment that he had faced during a game, how he had handled it and what he learned from that moment. Springer shared, “When we played Coleridge, it was a big matchup for us, definitely a close game. Some guys had gotten in foul trouble, I had to go in there and get rebounds. That was really big for me. To be able to win that game, and make sure that I’m supporting the guys that are out there to score and doing my role, which was rebounding in that game. And to make sure I was making the right play every time to go get a win.” With the pressure on Springer’s shoulders, he still managed to make amazing plays. Adding onto that, not only was he making beautiful plays, he was able to have good sportsmanship. That’s a great example of a leader and a great teammate!
Lastly, Springer had shared how the last few games had gone for his team. Springer stated, “I think we’ve definitely faced some adversity these last two games, it’s been really good for us, for the team overall. The last game against Central went really well. It was good to get back on track after the game against Grand Junction High School. Just making sure we’re going out, playing our best ball every night, is the most important thing we could do.” Springer was very happy that he and his team did well after their loss against Grand Junction High, even though that was a close game, they still had lost. That didn’t stop them from persevering through the tough loss and getting back on track, meaning letting it go and jump right back into their groove and play the best they can!
