Tuesday night’s Sweet 16 game was played largely in the paint and at the free-throw line. Courtney Hank made the most of her chances.
The Green Mountain High School junior scored a game-high 23 points, with 15 coming from the foul line, as she led the No. 3 Rams (23-2) to a 58-45 win against the tough 14th-seed Durango Demons (15-10).
Green Mountain moved on to the Great 8 of the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A Girls Basketball State Tournament and will face No. 11 Sierra on Friday with a spot in the state Final Four on the line.
The loss ended a remarkable season for the Durango Demons. One more win would have put DHS in the Great 8 for the first time in school history.
“We had a chance to go somewhere no girls team has even been before for Durango,” DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. “We were right there against a really good team that’s 23-2 now.
“This year, I think once we established our identity, we never went away from who we were. Sometimes that equates to wins, sometimes it didn’t. I’m just so proud of this team.”
Green Mountain raced out to a 9-0 lead in the opening three minutes of Tuesday night’s game in Lakewood. The Demons wouldn’t let the Rams run away, though, as they got within 14-9 after the first quarter.
“That was kind of my fault,” Fitzpatrick said of Green Mountain’s initial run. “We came out in a bit different defense than we normally do. We changed defenses and then got back into our rhythm.”
The Demons would finish a foul-filled first half on a 10-1 run to tie the game 20-20 going into the locker room for the halftime break. There were 21 personal fouls called in the first half alone, and that theme continued in the second half.
“They called a lot of fouls, but it was both ways,” Fitzpatrick said. “It wasn’t a one-sided deal. That’s usually what happens when you have two teams that are aggressive in there and play hard defense.”
Early in the third quarter, Durango would fall behind by as much as 32-26, but a timely 3-pointer from Kyle Rowland, two baskets from Maddy McManus and another from Sydney Flores had DHS within 36-35 late in the third quarter. The Rams would take a 38-35 advantage into the fourth.
In the final eight minutes, though, the Rams would go on a big run with well-rounded scoring before Hank closed the game out at the foul line. The Rams outscored Durango 20-10 in the final quarter.
The game saw only five made 3-pointers, and Green Mountain made four of them.
“The hurt us inside more than anything else,” Fitzpatrick said. “Their posts were really active, mobile, and that kind of hurt us. I don’t know what we were from the foul line, to be honest, but they had an advantage in percentage and number of makes. At this level, it’s those little things that matter most.”
DHS freshman Mason Rowland led the Demons with 16 points, as she made seven free throws. Jael Larson added eight points, while McManus had six and Kyle Rowland and Emma Fitzgerald each finished with five.
Also for the Rams, Riley Shoemaker scored 10 points. Maddie Phillips finished with eight.
The Demons will lose only two starters, Fitzgerald and Larson, to graduation next year and will return six current juniors from the varsity roster as well as Flores, who will be a junior, and this year’s freshman sensation Mason Rowland.
“I honestly haven’t looked at it,” Fitzpatrick said of next year. “Our four seniors, Emma Fitz, Jael Larson, Patricia Pena and Lauren Park, I just want to thank them. They’re the ones who set the foundation for us. The kids coming back will know they can compete at this level.
“Mental toughness and defense travels. It didn’t quite work out tonight, but our defense kept us in the game.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
