Blown leads were a common sight on Saturday at Durango High School. First it was the Demons girls lacrosse team. Durango got out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter against Roaring Fork but was outscored 12-5 the rest of the game and lost 12-9.

The boys team got out to a 6-2 start against Fruita Monument on senior day but the offense was nowhere to be found in the second half and the Demons lost 16-8.

Durango girls lacrosse will now await its state playoff seeding on Sunday. With the loss on Saturday, Durango will have to hit the road for its first round game.

The Demons fell to 7-7 overall after their loss to Roaring Fork. The Rams improved to 9-5 with the win.

“We were playing really strong and then a couple of balls bounced their way when they should’ve bounced ours,” Durango girls lacrosse head coach Eric Elliot said. “It is what it is. We saw a lot of good things today and we’ll take that into Tuesday’s game.”

Sophomore Taylor Babcock scored all four of her goals in the first half to lead Durango. Fresh off her 100th career goal the game before, senior Annabel Carithers had one goal for the Demons in what was most likely her final career game at home.

The Demons got out to a 2-0 lead early in the first thanks to two goals from Babcock in the span of about 30 seconds. She then scored for a third time as a defender fell and Babcock finished from short range. Durango dominated the draw early and junior Silvie Bosmans scored to put the Demons up 4-0 with 5:54 left in the first quarter which made Roaring Fork call a timeout.

“She’s just been waiting for her time and she had it today,” Elliot said about Babcock. “She took it, she did real good and they started dropping back a fifth defender to shut her down.”

Roaring Fork got on the board with a free shot with 5:12 to go. The Rams then ripped three more goals to end the first quarter tied 4-4. Durango struggled with the draws to finish and couldn’t find the right angles to shoot from.

Both teams’ goalies made some saves to start the second and there were numerous fouls on illegal checks. After two goals by Roaring Fork, Babcock and Carithers responded to tie the game at six with 2:11 left. The second-quarter buzzer sounded with both teams still tied at six.

Junior Sofia Naffziger opened up the scoring and gave the Demons a 7-6 lead to start the third quarter. The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair that was a defensive battle. Durango freshman Teagan Frausto tied the game at eight just before the end of the fourth quarter.

A Roaring Fork player opened up the scoring in the fourth with a nice face dodge and finish from close range with the left hand. Chandler made a nice stop but the Rams scored quickly after on a free shot to go up 10-8.

Elliot said Roaring Fork was able to capitalize on some Durango turnovers in Roaring Fork’s side of the field. This led to transition opportunities for the Rams as the Demons midfielders were out of position to defend.

“Our style of play, we’re streaky,” Elliot said. “It’s either full throttle or full break.”

Down three, senior Emmylou Willis was able to score on a free shot and make it 11-9 with 4:24 to go. Roaring Fork then began to chew clock. The Rams then scored with seven seconds left to seal the win.

Elliot said the Demons are going to be focusing on making better decisions with their passes before their playoff game.

Durango boys lacrosse season ends with poor second half against Fruita Monument

Durango High School’s turf was full of Demons boys lacrosse players jumping up and down with excitement after a flurry of first-half goals. Durango was moving the ball as well as it has all year. Unfortunately for the Demons and their six seniors, Fruita began finding holes in Durango’s defense in the second half and cruised to a 16-8 victory.

The Demons fell to 2-11 overall and 1-9 in the 4A Mountain League with the loss. Fruita improved to 6-9 overall and 6-4 in the 4A Mountain with the win.

“We came out firing on all cylinders, on man-up, we were putting the ball away when they gave us the opportunity,” Durango boys lacrosse head coach Luke Miller said. “The first quarter was great. In the second quarter, they found their footing and got back in the game. They pressured our guys a little bit more, took away our key players on offense and changed the game a little bit.”

Durango junior JT Munger started off the scoring with a rip from a tough angle that was an underhand low-to-low finish. The Wildcats quickly responded to tie the game 1-1 with 10:55 to go. Sophomore Bradin Gurule put the Demons up 3-1 with 8:56 to go in the first.

Durango started off very well on the defensive end. The long poles were active and had good checks and got a bunch of ground balls. Munger put Durango up 4-1 and Huff scored his second to put the Demons up 5-1 with 4:55 to go in the first quarter. Durango’s ball movement was better than in previous games. Munger scored practically the same goal as his first to put the Demons 6-2 after one quarter.

The Demons got a long pole goal from sophomore Grady Hooten but Fruita responded with three goals to make it 7-6 with 6:35 left in the second. Durango struggled with sloppy turnovers and Fruita got the ground balls and made the Demons pay. The game was tied 7-7 at halftime.

Disaster struck for Durango when a pass deflected by senior Owen Carozza went into the goal and Fruita went up 9-8 with six minutes to go in the third. Both teams had trouble passing and catching in the third which led to few goals and lots of possessions.

Fruita was able to get close to the crease and score with some good dodging and stick handling at the end of the quarter. The Wildcats led 11-8 after three quarters.

The Demons failed to pick up an easy ground ball to start the fourth and this led to an easy transition goal for Fruita. Durango struggled to find space to shoot and clear the ball in the fourth and Fruita dominated possession.

“We started getting stagnant,” Miller said. “We played hard that first quarter and guys got winded. From there, it was individual guys trying to do too much.”

Fruita moved the ball well late in the fourth to find open attackers on the crease as the Wildcats cruised to victory.

After the game, the Demons’ six seniors were honored in a senior day ceremony.

“Those guys were consistent, you could always depend on what they were doing,” Miller said about his seniors.

bkelly@durangoherald.com