The Fossil Ridge Girls Basketball Team competed in their first tournament of the year, finishing third after competing in three games in three days at the Battle of the Rockies Tournament.

Fossil opened the event defeating Dakota Ridge 54-24, earning their first victory of the year. The Sabercats trailed after the first quarter, but swiftly picked up their offense, outsourcing the Eagles by 32 points in the final three quarters.

Fossil Ridge was led by senior guard Maddie Kohler, who scored 17 points, and added 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Kohler was ecstatic to get the win after losing their opener to Windsor. 

“It feels great to come together, after that loss and get it done,” Kohler said. 

The Sabercats made several adjustments heading into the tournament, with the biggest change being an emphasis on rebounds.

“I think our biggest strength was out rebounding them. We struggled with that against Windsor, so boxing out was our main focus during this game. I think by out rebounding them it gave us more opportunities to put the ball back up and score more,” Kohler said.

Fossil got a chance to redeem their loss against the Windsor Wizards, as they played them in the second round of the tournament. The Sabercats played the Wizards tough, but ultimately fell short at 55-43, losing by twelve in both meetings. Fossil struggled to score, shooting only 30% on field goal attempts and 27% on three pointers.

The Sabercats bounced back, defeating Loveland 65-30 in the third place game. Fossil outscored the Red Wolves in all four quarters of the game, including winning the third quarter 22-7. 

Fossil will now travel to play Arvada West on Tuesday, December 15.