Durango head coach Lauren Moran has not been fortunate in her first season as the girls basketball coach. Injuries have taken out almost her entire starting lineup and the lack of offensive creators was apparent in the Demons’ 38-23 loss to Montrose Friday night inside Durango High School.
Junior guard Lilly Fitzpatrick was out with an ankle sprain. Senior forward Carter Neiman missed another game with back issues and junior Katelynn Sheppard missed the game with a knee issue.
The Demons fell to 8-7 overall and 1-2 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League after the loss. Montrose improved to 11-4 overall and 1-2 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League.
“They were really strong defensively,” Moran said. “They played really aggressive man-to-man defense and switched into zone looks at different times. We were not able to combat their aggressiveness. We didn’t get a lot of high-quality shots so that was our main struggle.”
Junior forward Ellie White led Durango with nine points. Taygen Rocco led the Red Hawks with 15 points. Mayce Oberg had 12 points as well for Montrose.
“Ellie played well,” Moran said. “It was really valuable having her back in the game. She’s really strong both defensively and offensively. We were glad to have her back. When she got into foul trouble and had to be out of the game for a little while that was a time when they made a little bit of a run on us.”
Gaskins started out the scoring with a long two-pointer. Durango had active hands and caused a few turnovers early.
Montrose raced out to a 9-2 lead with some inside shots with 3:10 left. The Demons offense took a while to set up with Montrose’s full-court press.
A nice back cut by freshman Jaelyn Alston led to a foul and a trip to the free-throw line and a drive with the left hand by White cut the Montrose lead to 9-5 with less than a minute left. A free-throw by Rocco pushed the lead to 10-5 after the first quarter.
Montrose struggled against Durango’s 2-3 zone with turnovers and missed shots from inside and outside in the second quarter.
“My intention was to switch defenses frequently so they wouldn’t get comfortable,” Moran said. “But then when they had such a hard time scoring against the 2-3 in the second quarter, I thought it made sense to stay in that look for longer.”
The Red Hawks struggled with playing clean defense and Durango was in the bonus with four minutes left.
A saving grace in the first half for Durango was Montrose’s inability to make free throws. Montrose led 13-8 at half after a late basket inside from Rocco.
The Demons struggled to run any offensive sets with the Red Hawks’ pressure. Alston got a steal and score to make the score 17-10 with 4:45 left in the third.
Struggles in the half-court continued for the Demons and they were only able to score in transition. Meanwhile, Montrose used its size and depth to crash the offensive boards to create more possessions. A 3-pointer by Maggie Legg and a layup by Oberg pushed the Montrose to 24-12, forcing Moran to call a timeout with 1:57 left in the third.
The inexperience of the Demons roster showed with numerous traveling calls forced by pressure. Montrose led 26-14 after three quarters.
White scored two baskets inside to start the fourth and sophomore Ryne Neiman got inside to cut the lead to 30-21 but Oberg had an answer inside to push the lead back up to 32-21 with 5:15 left.
Durango’s half-court offensive issues continued and Montrose got in the paint to finish off the game. Maestas hit a layup just before time expired.
The Demons are back at home on Saturday at noon against Fruita Monument.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
