BOULDER — The Boulder boys basketball team had already seemingly dealt with a season’s-worth of injuries this winter. Then the last seven days transpired.
But even with just eight players suited up Friday night, the Panthers proved once again that they’re gritty in the face of adversity.
Sophomore guard Garrett Turner piled up a career-high 24 points, and the Panthers routed Greeley West 67-40 in a battle of two squads fighting to stay within striking distance of the Front Range League’s leaders.
“I feel like when adversity hits us we come back and hit it harder,” Turner said.
That’s saying something considering the week the Panthers just had.
BHS (11-4, 5-3) entered last Saturday’s tilt with rival Fairview already missing senior starting guard Marc Krimstock due to a nasty December bicycle accident, and guard Tommy Baumgartner to a knee injury suffered in football season.
Against FHS, starting senior forward RJ Lampert suffered a broken right foot and then had to have an emergency appendectomy the next day. The broken foot has ended his season.
Then on Tuesday, reserve forward Diego Riverol suffered a nasty contusion on his shooting hand, on which he wore a heavy wrap on Friday night as he watched from the sidelines in street clothes.
Somehow the Panthers found a way to win Friday for the third time in four days anyway. Turner was a big reason why.
With Greeley West double-teaming 6-foot-4 center Jonah Charnick most of the way and point guard Alejandro Rodriguez’s early foul trouble, Turner hit a bucket to close the first quarter with Boulder leading 12-8. Then the 5-9 guard scored the Panthers’ first eight points of the second quarter for a 20-10 lead that ballooned to 33-14 by intermission.
Turner hit six 3-pointers in the game.
“When he gets hot it’s something special,” Charnick said of Turner, who has missed two stints this season himself due to ankle injuries. “Hardest worker on the team, no question.”
After Greeley West (8-7, 3-5) scored the first bucket of the third quarter, Turner answered with a 3 from the top of the key to spark an 11-2 run that made it 44-18 and put Boulder on cruise control the rest of the way.
Greeley West, dealing with foul trouble of its own for leading scorer Nick Garza, struggled against Boulder’s defense most of the night, committing 11 turnovers in the third quarter alone as the Panthers put the game away.
Garza mustered just seven points, while Daniel Ortiz led the visiting Spartans with eight points.
“Three in a week, it was a good week,” said Boulder coach Eric Eisenhard, who saw three different players — Rodriguez, Charnick and Turner — lead his team in scoring in the three victories. “We’ve had great individual scoring performances from different guys, and great team defensive performances all week long.”
All eight Panthers in uniform scored Friday. Rodriguez scored 10 points and Charnick nine. Kevin Van Lieshout added eight, while Austin Blessing scored six points in an increased role off the bench.
Even with Lampert out for good and Riverol’s status still up in the air, Eisenhard doesn’t expect to have to bring anyone up from the junior varsity squad to bolster his roster. He said he has confidence in Blessing and Ian Kelly to fill in and give the Panthers the depth they need, along with the other six regulars who are still healthy, until Riverol and Krimstock return.
“We just keep getting adversity thrown in our face,” Charnick said. “It says a lot about our team, what we’ve been able to battle through.”
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Boulder 67, Greeley West 40
At Boulder HS
GREELEY WEST (8-7, 3-5)
Miller 2 0-0 5, Garza 3 1-2 7, Hernandez 1 5-6 7, Rangel 1 0-0 2, Ortiz 3 2-2 8, Juarez 1 0-0 3, Lopez 1 0-0 2, Garcia 2 0-0 4, Barnes 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 8-10 40.
BOULDER (11-4, 5-3)
Turner 8 2-2 24, Kelly 1 0-0 2, Szarmach 1 2-2 5, Charnick 4 1-1 9, Van Lieshout 2 3-4 8, Rodriguez 5 0-0 10, Bohm 1 1-2 3, Blessing 3 0-0 6. Totals 23 10-11 67.
Score by quarters:
Greeley West 8 6 13 13 — 40
Boulder 12 21 20 14 — 67
3-point field goals — Greeley West (2): Miller, Juarez; Boulder (8): Turner 6, Szarmach, Van Lieshout. Total fouls — Greeley West 13, Boulder 12. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
