The Durango Demons’ hot shooting quickly was extinguished Friday night by a taller and more physical Montrose team.
The Demons’ girls basketball team (7-10, 5-4 Southwestern League) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of a much taller Montrose (12-7, 7-2 SWL).
Durango led the game 19-18 after one quarter but only scored 14 points the rest of the game. Montrose didn’t run away with the game, but the Indians did enough to secure a 44-33 road victory Friday night at Durango High School.
“It is hard because they are all bigger,” DHS head coach Nancy Smith said of Montrose. “We just didn’t get any offensive rebounds. It was one shot and out all night.”
The Demons were outrebounded 31-16 in the game.
“Rebounds were very important. We knew we had a size advantage, and we wanted to make sure we took advantage of that on the backboards,” Montrose head coach Eric Chavez said. “DHS is undersized, but they played their butts off.”
Chavez knew his team had to tighten up its defense quickly after giving up 19 points in the first quarter.
“That’s more than we have given up all year long. We knew if they continued to shoot and score at that pace, we were in for a long night,” he said. “We buckled down, made adjustments and gave more effort the next three quarters.”
The game was tied 25-25 at halftime. The Demons led 12-6 early in the first quarter, but a pair of 3-pointers by Montrose’s Stephanie Rowan quickly evened the game.
Durango held a 19-18 lead at the end of the first quarter with both teams shooting lights out. But DHS finished the game 6-of-24 from the field and 4-of-12 from 3-point range.
Montrose’s Emily Thorpe scored a game-high 13 points in the Indians’ victory.
The Demons were held scoreless for the first five minutes of the second quarter and the opening four minutes of the fourth quarter, two stretches that cost DHS when the game was tight.
“Our styles just didn’t match up. They are a very patient team, and we like to go quick and attack,” Smith said.
Three made baskets by Durango were waived off at critical times in the fourth quarter. One was called back for a traveling call before the shot, and two more were negated by three-second violations.
“It is demoralizing. We think we got something great, but they wipe it out,” Smith said. “Our girls kept at it even after that and even after going down 10 points in the fourth quarter. They wanted to win so bad on senior night, and I applaud the girls for their effort.”
DHS will finish the regular season at home against Grand Junction at noon Saturday. Grand Junction (18-2, 6-1) defeated DHS 62-46 on Jan. 24. DHS currently sits in fourth place in the SWL standings, and Grand Junction is first.
“One good thing about this game was we only had six turnovers to their 19,” Smith said. “We can take that into (Saturday).”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
