LAFAYETTE >> Peak to Peak boys basketball has been nothing short of impressive in the early weeks of the winter sports season, and on Saturday afternoon on their home court, the Pumas demonstrated just why.

In a high-velocity matchup with Holy Family, the Pumas crashed the glass hard and made clutch shot after clutch shot to surge toward a 57-50 victory. It was anybody’s game leading up to the final 40 seconds, until a layup and free throws from Tysen Burton sealed the deal.

The Tigers, for their part, matched Peak to Peak’s rebounding intensity with strong shooting acumen, almost all of which came from inside the arc. Peak to Peak senior center Nyima Chonden said offensive rebounding has been a point of emphasis in practice this year.

“We have a lot of guys that just get out there, that can get down toward the transition, then crash the boards on offense,” he said. “That really helped us get going. I think we had, as a team, somewhere around 12 offensive rebounds. The amount of points we got off that, like second-chance looks, that really helped us win the game.”

Chonden led the Pumas with 16 points, but he was far from the only Peak to Peak player to step up to the challenge. Senior small forward Elijah Eschmeyer was right behind him with 14 points, followed by juniors Burton (12 points) and Cole Boonstra (10). Junior Caleb Schott was the only Tiger to surpass the 10-point mark, with 16 of his own.

Holy Family asserted its presence early into the contest with smart shots from Rocco Howes and Schott, and Eschmeyer alone matched their effort to tie things up at 9-9. The rest of the Pumas offense got involved after that, and by game’s end, each squad saw seven of their own players get in on the scoring action.

“We’ve been doing a lot of box-out offensive rebounding drills, and my teammates have been playing harder than they ever have before, so that’s all you can really ask for,” Chonden said. “This year, we’ve grown as a team. I think everybody on this team, from the starters to the bench, anyone can have a night.”

Neither team led by more than five points in the first half, and that didn’t change much in the second. The Pumas just held enough of an edge through the final 16 minutes to carry them to their fifth victory in as many tries.

They’ll return from break to host Aspen on Jan. 3, while Holy Family (2-2) returns to the drawing board before its contest against Pagosa Springs on the same day.

“We definitely got killed on the boards today, Schott said. “I think it’s just a good test to see what we’re not perfect on yet. We’re never going to be perfect, but we’ve just got to keep working. We’re going to find answers through film and get back at it next Saturday.”