It couldn’t have been a worse start for the Durango boys basketball team Friday night. After three minutes of play, Montrose led Durango 10-0 and never relinquished the lead. Durango cut it to three points in the second half but Montrose had the answers and won inside Durango High School 56-48.
The Demons fell to 8-7 overall and 1-2 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League with the loss. Montrose improved to 12-3 overall and 1-2 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League with the win.
“Getting down 10-0 early, that’s tough to come back from,” Durango head coach Alan Batiste said. “We just never overcame it and never caught a lead... We could never get over the hump on defense to be able to get those stops.”
Junior guard Noah Miles and senior guard Zach Unruh each scored 14 points to lead the Demons.
Montrose was led by junior forward Brekin Hutto’s 15 points and junior forward Kevin Ferguson’s 12 points. Ferguson was averaging 18.8 points per game and 9.0 rebounds per game before this matchup.
“He had a hot hand tonight,” Batiste said about Miles. “He’s capable of doing that, he proved it last year where he’s able to do that.”
Jacob Neubert wasn’t able to finish inside to start and there were some defensive breakdowns in the Demons zone defense. Jaxon Kattner hit two 3-pointers and Gage Wareham hit one as well to put Montrose ahead 10-0 with five minutes left.
Batiste called timeout and he told his team to calm down offensively and to stay disciplined.
Then a 3-pointer by Miles, a layup by freshman forward Donovan Whitehead and a dunk by senior center Jacob Neubert cut the deficit to 10-7 with 3:25 left in the first.
Ferguson finished inside and extended the lead to 14-7 with 1:30 to go. Two free throws by Zach Unruh at the end of the first made it 17-11 Montrose.
After giving up 3-pointers early, Durango struggled to curtail the Red Hawks’ penetration. Durango got out in transition but was unable to convert on back-to-back possessions in the middle of the second.
Ferguson showed his strength and scoring prowess with a strong finish inside to put Montrose up 23-15 with 5:30 left.
The Demons struggled to score in the middle of the second quarter with a lack of sets and some one-on-one isolation basketball.
Hutto showed patience as Whitehead flew by him inside and Hutto scored to put Montrose up 29-15 with three minutes left.
Whitehead appeared to have suffered a shoulder injury after crashing to the ground after falling for one of Ferguson’s shot fakes with 2:30 to go.
Ferguson continued to work inside with a flurry of moves to keep the Red Hawks lead in double-figures.
After almost a minute of great defense, Zach Unruh got free against Montrose and scored a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cut the Montrose lead to 33-23 at half.
Unruh was aggressive to start the third. He made a jumper and hit four free throws in two trips to cut the lead to 33-28 with 6:11 left.
The run continued with a J.T. Neubert jumper but was ended with a transition layup by Montrose. Jacob Neubert picked up his fourth foul on a Ferguson shot attempt and had to sit with five minutes left in the third.
“He’s a game changer with his size and his length but it starts with his hands,” Batiste said about Jacob Neubert. “If your hands are up, they’re able to see your hands but his hands were down a couple of times.”
Montrose stretched its lead 40-30 after it got to the line once again.
But back-to-back 3-pointers by Durango cut the lead to six before Montrose pushed the lead to 46-36 with 1:30 to go. Montrose led 50-38 after three quarters.
Miles hit another 3-pointer to start the fourth but Ferguson hit an offensive put back and was fouled. He hit the free-throw to push the lead back to 11.
Back-to-back buckets cut the Montrose lead to 53-46 with four minutes left. Montrose was more than happy to chew some clock. Durango had to foul and Cooper Ross and Brody Cooling each made a free-throw to push the Red Hawks lead to 56-48 with 1:08 left.
Durango is back at home on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against 17-0 Fruita Monument, which is ranked as the top team in Class 6A in Colorado.
Batiste said Fruita’s transition offense is elite and the Demons will have to take care of the ball.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
