What does future hold for Palisade basketball? Fire, for one.

TUSSLING WITH TAFEL

Brian Tafel. Boys basketball coach at Palisade. Always on edge, face another shade of red from candy apple. He looks ready to jump on the court and rip out some defensive slides. But he’s in control. He demands success — does not ask for it. Already, after replacing a legend of a coach — Steve Phillips (who in 1990 guided the Central boys to a state championship) — Tafel’s Bulldogs have not slipped.

They bill it was the “Palisade Way.” Usually, that means being tough, not backing down, working hard.

It also means fire.

Just look at Palisade’s newest basketball coaches. They exemplify the Palisade Way, which is, of course, why they were hired.

And the future looks good for Palisade basketball. Their coaches are in their first year; both seem invested in their respective programs. Both are relatively successful.

The boys are 8-4 overall and 6-1 in the Class 4A Western Slope League, tied atop the league standings with Delta and Eagle Valley.

Tafel was a Bulldogs assistant last year.

Palisade athletic director Mike Krueger has not brought in outsiders. He has recruited his own kind, those familiar with the Way, from within.

Krueger also brought in Danielle Bagwell. In her opening game, the girls coach expected to beat the Grand Junction girls, who at the time were considered by some as the area’s team to beat. Palisade lost, 38-22.

The Bulldogs are 5-7 and 4-3 in the league and have a slew of upcoming talent, most notably the Brown sisters. Jenna, a junior, Casey, a sophomore and Ashlyn, the freshman, all start. An eighth grade Brown is on the way.

But Bagwell is a bit different from Tafel. Mixed in with her competitive fury is a touch of sense of humor, spiced here and there. Now and again, from the sideline, she’ll turn and whisper something to an assistant coach with a thin smile.

And the girls are playing for her; they have bought into the program enough to dive and take charges and run the floor to exhaustion.

Expect the basketball programs in the land of peaches to have a thriving future.

And then there were two … seniors

THE BIG TWO (SENIORS)

Four years ago, Mariah Garcia and Robbi Termentozzi were just a pair of Central High School volleyball players among 14.

Now they’re the only two in their class.

Central (5-7, 1-1 Southwestern League), which defeated Grand Junction in three games at home on Tuesday, is depending on the senior captains.

“We’re the big seniors,” Garcia said, smiling. “Not really though .. a little height deprived, but we work with it.”

Garcia is 5-foot-5, But for a libero, that’s about right.

Termentozzi, an outside hitter, is about 5-foot-8.

And they survived the four years while other girls dropped out of the program.

“It was just committment issues,” Termentozzi said. “Or some girls didn’t feel like they were good enough. But we stayed because we both love volleyball and our teammates.”

When Central wins, the “Big Seniors” said, they win as a team.

And when they lose?

“We fall apart as a team,” Termentozzi said.

If ever there were a way to lose …