The Glenwood Springs girls took on the Grand Junction Tigers on Thursday night at Chavez-Spencer Gymnasium and came away with a 54-10 victory to take their record to 11-5 as the high school basketball season counts down to the regional and state playoffs at the end of February.
Once a perennial school powerhouse, the Tigers limped into the contest with the Demons with an 0-15 record, and from the start, Glenwood was determined to keep them winless on the season.
Before the fans could even settle into their seats, senior guard Breauna Sorensen opened the scoring for the Demons with a triple and fellow senior Joslyn Spiers followed with a pair of triples to get Glenwood going and running fashion.
Full-court pressure was the order of the day for Glenwood, and the Tigers were unable to solve the defensive puzzle with Demon defenders appearing to approach them in waves. Senior Tori Taylor contributed six points in the first quarter to help Glenwood jump out to a 17-3 lead.
The Tigers didn’t fare much better in the second quarter against the talented Demons, scoring just one run to make it 31-4. Senior Mattea Enewold got on the scoresheet with a pair of field goals during the verse and junior Bailey Winder hit a jumper from the midfield to seal things up heading into the halfcourt.
Spiers and Taylor each had 11 points in the half for Glenwood. Sorensen contributed five assists and four steals.
Junior backup guard Madison Stewart continued to score the demon onslaught in the third quarter with a field goal and junior Taia Nykerk hit a three-pointer to push Glenwood to an unheard-of 42-4 lead. Head coach Rhonda Moser began filling in freely at that point, gaining game experience for all of her players on the bench. Second-year hopefuls Chloe Davies and Lyndsey Helms played the entire fourth quarter for the Demons.
Stat compilers for Glenwood included Spiers with 15 points, Taylor 13 points, Nykerk 7 points, Stewart and Enewold each lost by six points. Sorensen finished with eight assists and six steals.
Thursday’s win came on the heels of another convincing Lady Demons home win two nights earlier, 44-29 over Summit.
Glenwood will be back in action on Tuesday with a championship game at home against Battle Mountain before hitting the road on Saturday to take on the Durango Demons, the top-tier women’s team on the West Side.
Other recent women’s basketball results:
Saturday: Moffat County 54, rifle 43
Friday: Grand Valley 50, Meeker 44 (Grand Valley improves to 9-3 overall and 8-0 to lead 3A Western Slope League); North Fork 52, Roaring Fork 42
Tuesday: Grand Valley 46, Olathe 39
Demon boys cut down tigers
The Glenwood boys closed out the basketball doubleheader on Thursday with a thrilling 58-55 win in a game that featured multiple lead changes.
Junior Alec Classen hit a fade-out jumper just before the first period buzzer to give the Demons a narrow 12-11 lead into a quarter in which the lead swung back and forth several times.
Junior Argeny Renteria and senior Edwin Olave each scored for Glenwood to give the Demons the biggest lead of the game at 19-14 midway through the second quarter. Glenwood’s lead increased slightly to 23-17, but the Tigers went on an 8-2 run to close out the half and tie things up at 25-even.
Grand Junction’s combination of seniors Jake Stanfield and Jase Satterfield kept the Tigers in step with the Fiends in the first half by taking much of the scoring brunt for Junction.
In the third quarter, senior guard Erick Cordero made a key play for Glenwood by betting on a three-pointer while fouled out in the process. Cordero made the toss from the charity stripe to complete the four-point game to give the Demons a 31–27 lead.
From there, the Tigers got more contributions to move to the front line to build them to a 43-39 lead late in the third period. Seniors Cameron Ochoa and Andon Tow got into the scoring column and sophomore Will Applegate had five points in the period for Grand Junction.
In the deciding frame, Ochoa broke free of the Glenwood defense and hit his third three-pointer of the game to give the Tigers a 46–39 lead. Junior guard Sim Wenger then hit a pair of free throws for Glenwood, but it was Ochoa who immediately responded with another long bomb for a 49-41 Junction lead.
Guard Aiden Peters hit a 3-pointer for Glenwood to cut Tiger’s lead to 49-46 with just under 4 minutes to play in the contest.
Moments later, Wenger hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 51 apiece with 1:36 left in regulation and the finish line in sight for both teams.
Wenger once again saved the day for his team in the exciting waning moments of the game. After a Grand Junction turnover, Wenger hit a three-pointer from the top of the rim and then stole a pass from Tiger on the next possession to give the Demons their fourth straight win, improving their record to 10-7 on the season.
Wenger led the Demons with 21 points, Renteria and Classen with 10 points, Cordero with nine points, and Peters with seven points.
The Demon boys will join the girls on Tuesday when they entertain the Battle Mountain Huskies. Both Glenwood teams are 1-0 in WSL 5A play.
Other recent men’s basketball results:
Saturday: Moffat County 74, rifle 52
Friday: Roaring Fork 60, North Fork 44 (Roaring Fork improves to 10-4 overall and remains undefeated atop the 3A Western Slope League at 7-0); Grand Valley 59, Meeker 54; Aspen 57, Coal Ridge 43
Tuesday: Glenwood Springs 48, Summit 34
Glenwood Springs Hockey Scores: Saturday – Kent Denver 4, Glenwood 3; January 24 – Glenwood 8, Palmer 2. The Demons are now 11-2 overall and 6-0 in 4A Mountain League play. They are hosting Steamboat Springs at 5:45pm on Mondays at the Glenwood Community Center Ice Rink.
