The Durango Demons struggled to get things going on offense most of the game Saturday afternoon, but they made their free throws and got some big defensive stops in the fourth quarter en route to a 35-27 home win over Eagle Valley.
Durango improved to 7-5, while Eagle Valley fell to 4-7.
Junior guard Lilly Fitzpatrick led the Demons with 14 points, shooting 10 of 12 from the free-throw line. Junior guard Katelynn Sheppard had eight points for the Demons.
“We’ve already had adversity this season with injuries,” Durango coach Lauren Moran said. “But to have injuries during this game and have both the people who were injured be able to continue to play and other people give us good minutes who don’t play as much typically was huge. Then we had other people playing through foul trouble. We dealt with a lot of adversity and we’re just really proud of how they overcame it.”
Eagle Valley’s Alondra Ruiz had seven points, while Josie Fitzsimmons scored six points.
The game started on a sour note for Durango, when Bailey Gaskins rolled her ankle a minute into the game while playing defense. However, the Demons quickly jumped on the Devils.
A Sheppard 3-pointer and a Maestas jumper gave Durango an 8-0 lead with 5:57 left in the opening quarter.
The Demons were in the bonus with four minutes left in the first quarter, and a Sheppard 3-pointer pushed Durango’s lead to 17-9 with 25 seconds left in the opening frame.
After a quick start in the first quarter, the Demons struggled to find good looks in their set for the first few minutes. Eagle Valley’s Zakia Shreeve cut the lead to 17-14 with 4:23 left in the second quarter.
Durango continued to struggle on offense and couldn’t get any penetration. Ruiz tied the game with an Eagle Valley 3-pointer before Gaskins hit a shot inside to score the Demons’ first points of the quarter with 1:04 left.
Moran said the offense stagnated due to having numerous starters on the bench with foul trouble.
Sheppard had a nice pump fake and outside jumper, and the Demons led 21-17 at half.
Fitzpatrick once again got to the foul line and made two free throws to put the Demons up 23-17 with seven minutes left in the third. However, the game flipped when Ruiz made a 3-pointer and a long jumper to put the Devils up 24-23 with 3:20 left in the third quarter.
Defensive rebounds were an issue for the Demons, but the Devils couldn’t capitalize with their putbacks early on in the fourth quarter.
Durango was patient on offense with its two-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but Gaskins missed two free throws with four minutes left to keep the Demons scoreless in the fourth.
Fitzpatrick ended the drought with made two free throws to give Durango a 29-25 lead with three minutes left.
After an Eagle Valley bucket, Adde Neiman sank a free throw to give the Demons a 30-27 lead with 1:20 left.
A Fitzpatrick steal and score with a minute left pushed the Durango lead to 32-27 with 55 seconds left. She then sealed the game with a rebound and two free throws with 30 seconds left.
“I was really proud of how she was able to play through foul trouble today,” Moran said about Fitzpatrick. “She’s definitely a strong leader, she’s very composed with the basketball and a great defensive stopper so we rely on her quite a bit. That steal she had at the end of the game and then the layup was huge.”
Durango returns to action Jan. 19 at Grand Junction Central.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
