Caliche girls post mixed results while Shayln Johnson earns first-team nod

Caliche junior G/F Shayln Johnson was named First Team on the All-San Juan Basin League roster, a season honor that arrives amid a patchwork finish to the Buffaloes’ regular season. MaxPreps game logs show Caliche splitting five late-February contests, with decisive wins over Haxtun (48-18 on Feb. 14), Hi‑Plains (46-37 on Feb. 24) and Prairie (60-31 on Feb. 27) and losses at Simla (31-62 on Feb. 16) and a tight 47-50 defeat to Akron on Feb. 19.

The Feb. 24 victory over Hi‑Plains is recorded on MaxPreps with an accompanying box score, and the 60-31 result over Prairie on Feb. 27 appears in MaxPreps’ game-results feed under the headline "Caliche Skates Past Prairie with Ease." MaxPreps also logged "Stats have been entered" for the Feb. 14 Haxtun game and the Feb. 16 Simla contest, indicating box-score availability for those dates as well.

Regional reporting adds a different late-season outcome for the Lady Buffaloes: the Greeley Tribune reported a girls game in Iliff where Briggsdale topped Caliche 65-44, noting Briggsdale senior Jenna Krise scored a career-high 41 points on 14-of-30 shooting and added 15 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals as the Falcons closed the regular season with their fourth straight victory and improved to 17-2 overall. The Tribune said Briggsdale will meet a to-be-determined opponent in district play Thursday.

League-wide honors compiled by Joel Priest at Sudrum placed Johnson on the SJBL First Team alongside Norwood junior guard Jordan Williams, Kit Carson senior guard Brooke Crawford and South Baca junior guard Allyson Grahn. Priest noted Williams was named Player-of-the-Year after helping Norwood to a 25-1 season that included a 38-34 win over Iliff Caliche in the Class 1A State Championship in Loveland, a game that referenced Caliche with a 24-2 record in that state final context. Priest’s roundup also listed Ignacio senior guard Gabriela Garcia and Nucla freshman Carlie Wytulka as Honorable Mention All-SJBL selections.

Caliche’s program also figures in the boys side of the local roundups. The Greeley Tribune recorded a boys basketball score in Iliff where Caliche beat Briggsdale 50-45; Briggsdale led 25-18 at halftime before Caliche’s 18-3 third-quarter surge, and Briggsdale senior Tanner Fiscus finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and three steals as the Falcons fell to 7-12. The Tribune added schedule notes for district play at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, with Prairie and Briggsdale set to meet in 1A district competition at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, and Prairie’s girls slated to face Fleming in a 1A district game at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Johnson’s First Team selection gives Iliff-Caliche a clear individual accolade heading into postseason chatter; the mix of blowout wins, a pair of losses and the reported Briggsdale defeat leave the Buffaloes’ late-season narrative tied to postseason seeding and matchups that local teams will settle in district play this week.