The Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirate basketball team will look to begin its Intermountain League title defense this week as it prepares to host the annual Wolf Creek Classic and rekindle the magic that last season propelled the team to a 21-5 record and the quarterfinals of the state championships.
The Lady Pirates are entering the 2024-2025 season as the No. 9 team in the 4A preseason poll.
The Lady Pirates are scheduled to face 5A Central Grand Junction at 5 p.m. today, Dec. 5, followed by a 1 p.m. game versus 3A Gunnison on Dec. 7.
Coach Sarah Osborn has liked what she’s seen in early workouts with the team.
“Practices have been really strong and intense,” Osborn said. “We’re kind of getting through a lot of our offenses and our defenses, and just kind of getting the rust off. I think we’re exactly where we need to be going into this first weekend of games.”
At the Classic, Osborn expects to pay close attention to what’s become the signature pride of the team: an aggressive Lady Pirate defense.
“We always focus on defense first — and that’s something our team takes pride in, I take pride in,” the coach said. “We like to play fast and we like to play hard. So, just coming out and showing that we have those disciplined skills on defense ready to go, and then I think that offense will come from our experienced seniors leading our team.”
Leading the Lady Pirates this year will be three returning starters — Elizabeth Currier, Karsyn Shahan and Kylie Ketchum — who Osborn noted she expects to be a “huge part of our success this year.”
“I just think we have a really good returning varsity team that we can build off of from last year with how we ended doing well,” she said.
The coach continued, “We’re remembering where we came from, but it’s a clean slate as this is a new team, a new group of girls, and I’m excited to see what they do.”
Schedule
The following schedule was accurate as of press time, but is subject to change.
Following the conclusion of this week’s Wolf Creek Classic, the squad is scheduled to hit the road Dec. 19-21 for a trio of games against 5A teams at the Black Canyon Classic in Montrose. There they will face the hosts at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 19, Glenwood Springs at 2 p.m. on Dec. 20 and Pueblo Central at 10 a.m. on Dec. 21.
Heading into the new year, the Lady Pirates are scheduled to travel to Broomfield for the Holy Family Invite, where they will face the 4A hosts at 6 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2025, and 4A Kent Denver at noon on Jan. 4, 2025.
The team’s first home game of 2025 is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, when they will host the 2A Sanford Mustangs.
On Jan. 10, 2025, the Lady Pirates are scheduled to travel to Salida for a 5:30 p.m. game against the 3A Spartans.
A home game versus the 5A Durango Demons is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 14, 2025, followed by two consecutive road games against 3A opponents: The Lady Pirates will face Monte Vista at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 17, 2025, and then Ignacio at 2:30 p.m. the following day.
Following that road trip, the squad will enjoy successive home court advantages as they host 4A Alamosa at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 24, 2025, and 4A Montezuma-Cortez at 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 25.
The team will then head to Del Norte for a 5:30 p.m. game against the 2A Tigers on Jan. 28, 2025, followed by a trip to Bayfield for a 5:30 p.m. game against the 3A Wolverines on Jan. 31, 2025.
The Lady Pirates will enjoy home court support to begin February, when they will host the 3A Centauri Falcons at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2025; Monte Vista at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2025; and Ignacio at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 8, 2025.
On Feb. 14, 2025, the team will travel to Alamosa to face off against the Mean Moose at 5:30 p.m. before traveling the next day to visit Montezuma-Cortez at 2:30 p.m.
The Lady Pirates’ final regular-season home game of the season is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 21, 2025, against Bayfield. They will wrap up regular season play in La Jara for a 2:30 p.m. game against the Centauri Falcons on Feb. 22, 2025.
garrett@pagosasun.com
