Montrose established its tempo early Saturday against the Durango High School boys basketball team.
The Indians made a 3-pointer on their first possession then methodically ran through a motion offense for the rest of the first quarter. They combined that with solid defense to beat the Demons 49-40 at DHS.
DHS (9-12, 4-6 Southwestern League) only had four possessions in the first quarter because of Montrose’s pace and trailed 6-3 after the first eight minutes.
“We’re a pretty disciplined team. We’re not going to score 60, 70 a night,” Montrose head coach Ryan Voehringer said. “We’re going to try and slow it down, grind it out defensively. Hopefully our defense leads to offense.”
Both teams found more energy and offense in the second half.
DHS sophomore Josh Hobson came off the bench and immediately started attacking the basket.
“Everbody was slow,” said Hobson, son of Alex and Yuka Hobson. “I was just trying to be aggressive and get more momentum.”
He finished with a team-high nine points and caused problems defensively.
“He could be one of the best defenders in the state if he applies himself,” DHS head coach Alan Batiste said of Hobson. “He knows he can get to the bucket. We just want to make it so he doesn’t have to work so hard in terms of our spacing.”
The Demons struggled on offense for most of the game. They shot 34 percent from the field.
“They were making us take tough shots,” Batiste said. “We needed to be able to finish. Credit their defense.”
Despite the struggles, DHS clawed back within five points with five minutes remaining down 29-25. The Indians then made the next two baskets to go up 34-24 with 3 minutes, 49 seconds left. DHS never got within nine for the rest of the game.
“That’s always a big thing. When you go on those runs, you’ve always got to get back and get the stop,” Batiste said. “We didn’t get the stop.”
Frustration boiled over for the Demons with 1:49 remaining. Nate Atencio was called for an intentional foul, and Lucas Baken received a technical foul for slapping the ball on the same play.
“You’ve got to play through adversity. When your backs are against the wall, you can’t stay down,” Batiste said. “You’ve got to channel that frustration to a positive frustration to get some defensive stops.”
The loss ends the Demons’ regular season and leaves them with the No. 4 seed in the Class 4A Southwestern League/Western Slope League tournament starting Thursday.
The Demons will play either Palisade or Rifle in the opener and potentially could match up with top-seeded Glenwood Springs with a win. A win in the first game Thursday automatically advances the Demons to the Class 4A state tournament by virtue of a top-four finish.
“We need to stay confident and know you still can play with a lot of teams in the state,” Batiste said. “It’s about trusting each other like we want. Now we’re one-and-done. We have to win Thursday.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
