Revenge must’ve felt quite sweet for the Montrose High School girls basketball team after their 43-29 road win at Durango on Saturday afternoon.
Less than 11 months ago, the Demons won at home against the Red Hawks in the 5A state playoffs to advance to the state quarterfinals in Denver Coliseum. Montrose returned its top four scorers from that team, while Durango lost four starters and has a mostly different rotation of players.
Montrose’s experience has resulted in an undefeated season so far, and that experience was on display on Saturday afternoon, especially on the defensive end. The Red Hawks’ continuity shut down Durango’s offense and made it very hard for the Demons to run any set plays in the half-court. On offense, Montrose rarely made a mistake and took what the Durango defense gave them.
The Demons had their moments, but trailed 8-0 early and could never get back in the game with their disrupted offense.
“This was no surprise because they tend to play consistently year-over-year,” Durango head coach Lauren Moran said. “They’re just so solid in their man defense, and we struggled to get a lot of high-percentage shots … we need to, and we will work on our offensive execution so we can get the looks we want … Overall, our defense was okay.”
Durango dropped to 8-7 overall and 1-2 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League. Junior guard Jaelyn Alston led the Demons with 16 points and was the only consistent source of offensive creation. Senior forward Ryne Neiman added 10 points.
Montrose improved to 16-0 overall and 3-0 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League after the win. Freshman Landree Johnson led the Red Hawks with 17 points.
It was a slow start offensively for both teams, with Montrose leading 3-0 with three minutes left. Shortly after, Montrose increased its lead to 8-0 with an open 3-pointer and a nice finish inside. The Demons really struggled to run any offense because they couldn’t get any paint touches through penetration or passing.
“It's primarily a testament to how solid they are in their man defense,” Moran said. “Over the course of the game, we figured out where we could exploit some mismatches. But it took us a little while to figure out where those mismatches would be.”
Durango finally got on the scoreboard with less than two minutes left in the first, thanks to a drive by senior guard Claire Goodwin and dish to Neiman. The Red Hawks responded with a 3-pointer against Durango’s defense for an 11-2 first-quarter lead.
Scoring continued to be a struggle for Durango in the second quarter, with Montrose shutting down any fast break opportunities and Durango struggling to get separation. On the other end, Montrose found good looks inside and hit the occasional open 3-point shot. Johnson hit two 3-pointers to give Montrose a 24-10 lead at the half.
The Demons’ defense was strong to start the third quarter, forcing back-to-back Montrose turnovers. Alston continued to be the biggest star on offense for the Demons. She didn’t force any bad looks, wasn’t sloppy with the ball and took what the defense gave her. Alston wasn’t relying on her 3-point shot and had some nice finishes inside with her length and soft touch. Two Alston baskets cut Montrose’s lead to 24-14 with five minutes left in the third.
“Jaelyn was a tough matchup because she is so strong on a perimeter, but she’s also really effective with her back to the basket inside,” Moran said. “That's definitely something we want to exploit, is if the other team has a smaller guard on her, we want to see her inside.”
Durango had Montrose’s lead into single digits late in the third with Alston continuing to serve as the offensive hub. However, Montrose finished the quarter on a 9-0 run as Durango turned the ball over and had some defensive lapses. Montrose led 37-19 after three quarters and held its lead in the fourth until some inside finishes by Durango late in the fourth.
Durango hits the road to play at Fruita Monument on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
