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Durango girls basketball falls to Fruita Monument

Demons lose to Fruita Wildcats 37-33

The Durango High School girls basketball team suffered from déjá vu Saturday, as the Demons lost another close game for the second day in a row when the Fruita Monument Wildcats came calling in Durango.

The young Wildcats were too deep for the Demons, as Fruita Monument won 37-33.

Durango (13-6, 4-4 5A/4A Southwestern League) started the game cold by missing its first 10 field goals, going 0-for-5 from the 3-point line, too. Fruita Monument (17-4, 5-1) took advantage of its height advantage while also taking full advantage of Durango’s slow start.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well at all,” Durango head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. “We settled for jump shots and didn’t knock them down. Our defense kept us in it the entire game, and Fruita is a very good basketball team. They have some talent. That’s good high school girls basketball.”

Fruita Monument’s Riley Snyder led all scorers with 17 points while going 8-for-10 from the free throw line. Sitori Carver had six points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats.

For Durango, Katrina Chandler led the Demons with 15 points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists.

Despite the off-shooting day, Durango managed to keep within reach of Fruita Monument all day.

It wasn’t until late in the game that the Wildcats finally pulled away from the Demons. With four minutes left in the game, Durango found itself down only 34-28. Durango’s Shilo Gillen was fouled on a shooting play which sent her to the foul line. Mackenzie Wells from Fruita Monument was then charged with a technical foul for saying words to the referee. Fruita Monument’s head coach Michael Wells was upset at the technical and was in turn charged with the team’s second technical foul. Fitzpatrick was hit with a technical foul earlier in the game during the second quarter, also for talking with the referees too much.

In all, Gillen shot 5-for-6 free throws because of the sequence, which made the score 34-33. Gillen finished the game with six points.

The Wildcats hit their free throws to stay ahead throughout the ending of the game. Fruita Monument went 12-for-15 from the free throw line as Durango went 12-for-25, which was the ultimate deciding factor.

“They have great defensive pressure and they play like every play is their last,” said Chandler, daughter of Becky and Klint Chandler. “They have a really good team and they outplayed us. They make shots, we can make shots, too. I’m proud of our players, they stepped up with some key shots, but in the end it just didn’t fall our way.”

After the previous night’s loss to Montrose, Durango came out more aggressive. Durango was feisty on the defensive end, causing Fruita Monument to turn the ball over 20 times, and the Demons had seven steals.

“They’re disappointed because we had two games where we were right there,” Fitzpatrick said. “They should be happy with how they played. We put ourselves in the position to at least compete for a league championship. If we play like this going forward then good things will happen to us. In turn I am proud of my kids. We’re playing at a very high level so that’s good to see.”

Up next for Durango is the 5A/4A Southwestern League tournament with the time and date as yet to be determined.

jmentzer@durangoherald.com

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