The Demons put up a fight, but a slow start against Fruita Monument’s dominant defense doomed the Durango High School girls basketball team to a 56-35 loss Friday night at DHS.
Prior to the meeting, DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said the main thing he was looking for out of the Class 4A Demons was matching the Class 5A Wildcats’ intensity and to compete with one of the best teams in the state.
“I think they really stepped up to the challenge,” Fitzpatrick said after the game. “We’re really proud of them and they competed for four quarters. To put it in perspective, that’s like Valor Christian coming down and playing our football team. The girls, they battled and we really like what we saw.”
The win clinched the 5A/4A Southwestern League title for the seventh-ranked Wildcats (20-2, 7-0 SWL). It’s their third league title in a row.
The Wildcats kept the Demons (9-11, 4-2 SWL) guessing on offense with a variety of defensive sets. They kept the ball out of Hilda Garcia’s hands by face guarding the Demons’ senior and leading scorer, as well as switching back and forth from man to zone defenses.
“One of the things we try to focus on every game is who’s their best player and how we can take them out of the game,” Fruita head coach Michael Wells said. “We tried to give Hilda, who’s a good player and played for me in club ball during the summer, so we’re aware of her, some different looks and try to make her a little hesitant. We’d guard her at half court if we had to because is she gets going it kind of gets the rest of the group going.”
Behind the strong defense, Fruita kept Durango scoreless for all but the final second of the first quarter when Garcia banked in a half-court shot at the buzzer that made it 14-3.
The Demons got their offense going a bit in the second quarter by getting the ball into the low post and penetrating the Wildcats’ 1-3-1 zone defense to find open shots, but the Wildcats still won the quarter 14-10 and took a 28-13 advantage into halftime.
“Usually once we get going, once our shots start falling, we really start clicking and working together,” DHS senior Elise Gilleland said of the second quarter. “When we get good ball movement, it helps us play better together.”
Garcia found her shot in the third and scored the Demons’ first 10 points of the quarter. But the Wildcats extended their lead and were up 22 points heading to the fourth quarter thanks to a 12-point quarter from Angelique Gall.
Gall led the Wildcats with 30 points. She was 10-of-13 from the free-throw line.
Riley Snyder added 11 points and went 8-for-8 from the foul line. As a team, Fruita was 25-of-34 from the charity stripe.
Garcia finished the night with 15 points for the Demons. Gilleland and Jael Larson added five points each.
DHS will host Grand Junction Central (9-12, 1-5 SWL) at noon Saturday.
Boys Basketball
Boys BasketballThe Fruita Monument Wildcats (15-7, 6-1 5A/4A Southwestern League) blew the game open early and maintained their large lead en route to a 60-39 victory against the Durango High School boys basketball team Friday night at DHS.
“They got out to that early lead and were up 19 or 20 and maintained it the rest of the way,” DHS head coach Alan Batiste said. “But the boys kept playing hard and competing, and I’m so proud of them. We’ve really come a long way from the last time we played them and scored 16, so to get (39) tonight is a big improvement.”
On senior night, Seth Johnson led the way for DHS (3-16, 1-5 SWL) with 14 points.
“Seth had a heck of a game,” Batiste said. “He was aggressive and getting to the bucket at will.
“All our seniors, Will Meyer, Matthew Tucker, Chase Summers, Quelan Mestas and Seth, they’ve done so much for our program here at DHS and I’m proud to have had them.”
DHS will host Grand Junction Central (8-12, 2-4 SWL) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at DHS.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
