Durango girls basketball lost to Fruita Monument 44-42 in overtime at home on Friday night. In the third quarter, it looked like Durango had no chance of forcing overtime, let alone winning.
The Demons trailed by double-digits late in the third. Their offense had struggled mightily and Fruita was hitting outside shots. Without a shot clock, it looked like Fruita was going to cruise to victory.
But the Durango players said, ‘Hold my water,’ and fought back with defense. Fruita looked like it was seeing ghosts with turnover after turnover in the fourth. Durango forced overtime but couldn’t convert down one with less than 10 seconds left and Fruita came away victorious.
“Their effort defensively was what got us back in the game,” Durango head coach Lauren Moran said about her team. “I'm extremely proud of our resilience and how focused they were defensively in that stretch when we were coming back in the fourth quarter.”
Durango fell to 13-4 overall and 2-2 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League. The Demons have lost two consecutive games for the first time this season. Senior guard Mariah Maestas led the Demons with 16 points. Senior guard Tyler Trujillo had eight points.
Fruita improved to 12-6 overall and 5-0 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League. The Wildcats had won their previous four league games by an average of 32.75 points. Senior guards Olivia Campbell and Mckenzie Mason had 13 points each for Fruita.
The Wildcats pressed full court which didn’t have much success early on as the Demons moved the ball well with four guards. Durango took a 9-4 lead with five minutes left after some good passing for finishes inside.
Fruita picked up its offense at the end of the first quarter. Campbell had a few nice drives. Maestas ended the first quarter with a wing 3-pointer to put Durango up 14-10.
Durango struggled to run offense against Fruita’s 2-3 zone defense. The Demons struggled to penetrate and didn’t have a presence in the soft spot of the zone around the free-throw line.
“Watching their zone defense on film, I did think they were pretty effective in that zone,” Moran said. “They're quick and long so it can be difficult to get good looks against it. We had success when we got it inside to Ellie (White) and then either cut off her or her to kick it out.”
Fruita made a few 3-pointers to take its first lead of the game. Once again, Maestas responded with a shot at the end of the quarter; this time it was a tough floater in the paint to tie the game at 20.
Durango struggled with its ballhandling to start the third and Fruita took advantage of it with some fast break opportunities. In the half court, Fruita moved the ball well against Durango’s zone for some easy looks. Moran took a timeout with Durango down 26-20 with 5:56 left in the third.
Fruita continued to hit its outside shots and extended its lead to 32-21 with 2:52 left in the third. It felt like a 22-point lead with Durango struggling to score.
“They came out of the half more intense and focused than we did,” Moran said. “That's interesting because at Montrose, our last game, we came out so well. I'm not really sure what the difference was, but we just talked to the girls about how every quarter is 0-0 and we’re going to try and win every quarter.”
The Demons continued to struggle to run any offense against Fruita’s swarming zone. Penetration into the paint or open shots from anywhere were hard to come by. Fruita led 34-24 after three.
Durango turned the tide of the game with its defense. The Demons caused some turnovers and finished. Durango also got to the free-throw line after drawing some fouls on drives. A layup by Maestas cut Fruita’s lead to 35-31 with 5:07 left.
Fruita started running more clock and moved the ball around until Campbell made an open 3-pointer to put Fruita up 38-31.
The Demons continued to fight and caused a turnover while Fruita was trying to stall. On the other end of the court, Maestas hit a tough wing 3-pointer to get the fans on their feet as Durango trailed 38-36 with 1:40 left.
Fruita really struggled to handle Durango’s press in the last 90 seconds. The Wildcats didn’t even look at getting to the basket and it cost them; Durango had two steals.
Trujillo found a lane to the hoop, was fouled and nearly made the basket with 23 seconds left. She calmly made both to tie the game.
Campbell got the ball for Fruita with a chance to win the game. She posted up and threw up a contested shot that missed everything. Sophomore Jaelyn Alston got the rebound with five seconds left and threw it up to Trujillo but Trujillo couldn’t get a shot off.
In overtime, senior forward Ellie White had an aggressive drive that earned her a trip to the free-throw line. She knocked down both free throws to put Durango up 42-40.
On the next possession, Mason received a crosscourt pass in the corner and nailed a 3-pointer with about a minute left to put Fruita up 43-42.
Durango got the ball back and Moran called a timeout with 13 seconds left. The Demons barely got the ball back to Trujillo, she backed down her defender and threw up a contested shot. White got the rebound but was tied up. In a game with at least 15 jump balls, the final one went to Fruita with a second left to seal the game.
“We were looking to run a play where we could get the ball inside,” Moran said. “In retrospect, maybe it took too long to set that particular look up. So maybe we should gone with another option, but we felt like we had successfully got the ball inside.”
Durango plays against Grand Junction at home on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
