Fast hands, bodies in passing lanes and rushed shots by the opponent was the formula Friday night for the Durango High School girls basketball team.

After adding all the ingredients, plus a little offense, the Demons mixed up a resounding 57-30 win over their archrivals from Montezuma-Cortez High School in front of a crowd of about 600 at tipoff Friday night at DHS.

Durango (4-11, 2-3 Southwestern League) was in gear from the opening tip, forcing eight first-quarter turnovers and ending the frame on a 9-0 run.

The star of the show, particularly in the first quarter, was junior guard Molly Barnes, who scored Durango’s first 10 points and finished with a career-high 15. On Friday, Barnes didn’t miss a shot, hitting all three 3s, a two-pointer and all four free throws.

“That’s my high, so I’m pretty happy,” Barnes said as head coach Nancy Smith stood beaming alongside her. “I think it builds up that confidence in you to go out and do it the next time.”

The defense and the posts took over from there, taking advantage of a vast height disparity tilted in Durango’s favor. The Demons ended the first half on a 24-7 run, and Taylor Perry scored all eight of her points in the second quarter to help stake DHS to a 34-15 lead over Cortez at halftime.

Abby Surmeier did most of her work after intermission, scoring six of her nine points in the second half; Shanelle Bogus and Emily McCue added six, and every single Demon in a pink-trimmed uniform for cancer awareness scored. Freshman guard Jessica Sigillito sat out with an injury.

“That was our whole game plan was to put it in, go in hard, and when they collapse, find somebody like Molly to spot up and hit,” Smith said.

While the Durango offense hummed along to one of its best performances of the season, the Panthers struggled to find the basket. Cortez was just 9-for-53 on field-goal attempts, including a 1-for-23 performance from beyond the arc. Sydney Bayles led the way for the Panthers (5-11, 0-5 SWL) with eight points.

“I think we did a lot better on defense, and we did a good job of rotating better, and we practiced a lot to help them turn the ball over more,” said Barnes, daughter of Joe Barnes and Carol Cunefare.

Perhaps the only downer on the night for the home side was the 26 turnovers the Demons committed. Durango, however, built its lead by forcing 15 of the Panthers’ 18 turnovers before halftime.

The Demons also took advantage from the free-throw line, hitting 20 of 23 attempts, while the Panthers made just 9 of 22 from the charity stripe.

“They just shot well from the line,” Smith said. “And I don’t know if it’s being at home, being excited, being in front of their own fans, but they stepped up.”

DHS will face a tough regional rival in its next game – a road contest against 10-2 and Class 3A-ranked Bayfield on Tuesday.

rowens@durangoherald.com