Log In


Reset Password
Sports Youth Sports Professional Sports More Sports College Sports High School Sports

Durango girls lose heartbreaker to Montrose on Senior Night

Demons lose to Indians 32-31

When the Montrose High School girls basketball team visited the Durango Demons on Friday night, the Indians sent a message that they were still the best team in the 5A/4A Southwestern League by derailing Durango’s hopes of an upset.

For most of the game, Durango managed to stay one step ahead of the Indians, but Montrose’s slow-paced offense was able to fight hard for a 32-31 comeback victory.

“They knocked down shots and made adjustments, credit to them,” Durango head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. “They were affective with breaking our pressure. They made us beat them on the perimeter, and we didn’t knock down shots and they did.”

Durango led from the opening tip until two minutes left in the fourth quarter when Montrose took a 31-29 lead. The Demons controlled the tempo for most of the game, but Montrose was able to slowly chip away at Durango’s lead. The Demons never led by more than a nine and led 29-20 at the end of the third quarter. That’s when Durango’s game began to become unraveled.

Montrose (14-5, 7-1 SWL) began to slow the game down and fed senior Elle Pace the ball. Pace finished with 10 points, eight of which were in the final quarter of the game. Pace also finished with four rebounds. Durango (13-5, 4-3 SWL) had a hard time matching up with Pace’s size, but it was Montrose’s defense on Durango’s Katrina Chandler that turned out to be the difference maker.

Chandler didn’t make her first field goal of the game until the second quarter. Holly Brooks’ defense for Montrose became tougher in the final minutes of the game, as Chandler was Durango’s only offense. Brooks finished with only four points but had five assists.

“They sent help defense against me,” said Chandler, daughter of Becky and Klint Chandler. “I couldn’t get to the rim, and they slowed us down. They hit the shots they needed to make and we didn’t.”

Chandler finished with a game-high of 11 points but had only three assists and three rebounds, which were below her season averages. Stephanie Bayse wasn’t at her healthiest Friday night, which didn’t help things. Bayse was nursing a twisted ankle and wasn’t 100 percent.

“Her being hurt was pretty big,” Chandler said. “She’s the one who can draw out the bigs and hit shots.”

Before the game, Shilo Gillen and Danica Dudley were honored for Durango’s senior night. Both Gillen and Dudley finished with four points.

Taylor Edwards had seven points and six rebounds for Durango.

Durango forced six Montrose turnovers while having only three as a team, and both the Demons and Indians had 14 rebounds each. The Indians led in the assist category 11-4.

There weren’t very many shooting fouls as both teams shot 2-for-7 combined from the charity stripe.

For Durango, the loss was tough but came against the top team in the league.

“Montrose is an established winning program,” Fitzpatrick said. “We fought hard; I’m very proud of the girls.”

Durango is back in action Saturday as the Demons welcome Fruita Monument at noon.

jmentzer@durangoherald.com

Feb 12, 2016
Durango boys blow out Montrose on Senior Night
Feb 12, 2016
Bayfield, Durango and Ignacio wrestling teams looking to qualify wrestlers for state at regionals


Reader Comments