Snowstorms blanketing the Western Slope couldn’t prevent a night of rivalry basketball in Cortez on Tuesday.
The Durango High School boys and girls basketball teams braved U.S Highway 160 and the blackout crowd at Montezuma-Cortez High School to come away with a pair of blowout victories.
The girls opened the night with a 68-24 win. The boys were a point better in a 69-40 victory.
“It was good to get us back on track,” DHS boys assistant coach Dalon Parker said, referencing the team’s 56-47 loss Saturday to Grand Junction Central. “We haven’t lost two in a row all season. We played pretty bad basketball for three quarters Saturday, but we were good in the fourth. We took that quarter and rolled it into tonight’s game and got in a nice rhythm.”
The boys (11-2, 0-1 4A/5A Southwestern League) opened up a 15-4 advantage after one quarter thanks to several forced turnovers. DHS led the Panthers (5-7, 2-1 3A Intermountain League) 24-16 at halftime. In the third quarter, the game shifted back in favor of the Demons for good thanks to a 14-0 run sparked by Tyler Ruetschle, who made four 3-pointers in the quarter. He finished with 14 points, and DHS carried a 51-23 lead into the final quarter.
Kyle Kirkpatrick led the Demons with 20 points, and Steven Wyman had 15.
Parker said swinging the ball around the top of the 3-point line helped open up the floor and kept the Demons in their comfort zone.
“We got back to our pace of basketball,” Parker said. “We didn’t rush and weren’t overshooting. We didn’t shoot ourselves out of the game.”
Jasen Engel led Cortez with 16 points. Daniel Fernandez had eight.
DHS will look to keep it going with a big trip Saturday to face Fruita Monument (7-9, 0-1 SWL).
Hilda Garcia had a breakout performance for the DHS girls (10-5, 1-0 SWL) with 23 points, and Katrina Chandler finished with 13.
The Demons held the Panthers scoreless for the first 7 minutes, 20 seconds of the first quarter to lead 12-2 after one quarter.
Garcia got hot in the second quarter, and DHS carried a 35-15 lead at halftime.
Durango’s defense again stepped up in the third quarter and held the Panthers (1-11, 0-3 IML) to only five points to lead 52-20 after three quarters.
Ariel Wright led Cortez with 11 points.
DHS will also travel to Fruita Monument for a 5:30 p.m. Friday game. The Wildcats (14-1, 1-0 SWL) are one of the top teams in the state and are the consensus favorite to win the league.
Inclement weather in the area caused the cancellation and postponements of high school events Tuesday.
The Durango at Aztec wrestling dual-meet was canceled and is not expected to be rescheduled. Ignacio also postponed basketball games against Mancos, and a new date has yet to be determined.
Bayfield, which had boys and girls basketball games at Alamosa postponed last Saturday, will make up those games beginning with junior varsity at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Alamosa.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
