FARMER’S CORNER (1/20/18) – “We escaped with this one,” Glenwood Springs boys basketball coach Cory Hitchcock said after Summit cut an eleven point Demon lead to two in the final two minutes before six straight free throws held off the Tigers, 86-81. Angel Garcia and AJ Crowley combined to make 9-of-11 three-point attempts as the boys improved their Western Slope League record to 6-0.
The Glenwood girls won their fourth straight WSL game, 47-33, using outside shooting from Maddie Bolitho and Dani DeCrow, inside scoring from Qwynn Massie, and five steals each from Natalya Taylor and Ximena Gutierrez to prevail over a fourth-quarter rally from the Tigers.
GLENWOOD BOYS 86, SUMMIT 81
“After we played such good defense against Fruita (in a 63-59 win Thursday in Glenwood), that was the worst we’ve played all season,” Hitchcock lamented after Summit put together three, 20-point quarters and made 12 of 22 three-point attempts, including 5-of-8 in the fourth quarter.
The Demons made a season-high 13 shots beyond the arc, with a different shooter getting hot in putting up three, 20-point quarters themselves. “We had to outscore them,” Hitchcock said, as Glenwood won its seventh straight and ninth in ten games. Besides the outside shooting, the Demons were buoyed by the return of Luke Gair after missing essentially five games with an ankle sprain. The 6-0 junior made a difference in grabbing 8 rebounds, leading Glenwood to a 35-24 advantage under the glass.
Garcia got the Demons off to a fast 22-14, first-quarter start, sinking 3-of-4 treys and scoring 13 points. He hit another to push the lead to eleven early in the second period, but it was Crowley’s turn to catch fire with two minutes to go until halftime, sinking three consecutive 3-pointers in a 110-second span after Wyatt Buller’s trey had cut the Demon lead to 33-28. Gabe Suarez got in on the long-distance fun also, giving Glenwood its biggest margin, thirteen points with 35 seconds remaining before Turner McDonald answered for Summit, trimming the lead to 46-35. Crowley had 14 points in the period.
Chano Gonzalez became the Demons’ third-quarter bomber, dropping in a pair of treys down the stretch, scoring 8 to help Glenwood to a 68-56 margin heading into the final frame. The two teams would exceed 40 points combined for the third straight period as the Demons’ 8-of-10 free throw performance was just enough to keep the Tigers at bay.
Glenwood held a seemingly comfortable eleven-point lead with 2:16 remaining in the game when Summit sank 3 straight treys plus a 3-point play from McDonald in their next four possessions while the Demons made just 2-of-4 from the line, cutting the lead to 80-78 with 26 seconds left. Aaron Smith responded by getting both ends of a 1-and-1, then Crowley’s leap netted a steal, and Erwin Rodriguez made his first two free throws of the season, tuning out the Summit students beating the bleachers with their feet. That gave the Demons a 6-point edge with 12 seconds to go, enabling them to survive Buller’s fifth 3-pointer of the game with three seconds left. For good measure, Suarez made two more free throws with a tenth of a second remaining.
Crowley led the Demons with 23 points, including 4-of-4 from downtown, Garcia put up 21 (on 5-of-7 treys), and Gonzalez had 16 points. Smith added 7 and 6 assists. For Summit, Buller, who averages 11 a game, had 26, and McDonald, the WSL scoring leader, exceeded his 19-point average with 25.
The win keeps Glenwood (13-3, 6-0 WSL) undefeated in league play, while Summit (8-6) drops to 1-3, losing for the second time while scoring 81 points (87-81 at Eagle).
GLENWOOD GIRLS 47, SUMMIT 33
The Glenwood Lady Demons made just 3 of their first 19 shots against Summit and trailed 7-6 after one quarter, but DeCrow’s three-pointer got them the lead for good, 10-9 with 5:20 to go in the second period. Back-to-back treys by Bolitho kicked the lead to 18-12 at halftime, as the Tigers made just 4-of-14 shots and had 16 turnovers, several against the Demon press.
The third quarter featured a zombie-like 3-minute stretch where Summit made one basket and Glenwood a single free throw, but Bolitho broke the spell with a driving bucket and another three-pointer sandwiched around a perfect entry pass from Gutierrez to Massie, giving the Demons a 31-17 lead by the end of the period.
After the lead reached 16, Summit suddenly began pounding the offensive glass and getting to the free throw line but two more Gutierrez-to-Massie baskets halted the Tiger momentum and Taylor, Bolitho, and Saylor Warren made 6 straight free throws to finish strong.
Bolitho made 3-of-5 three-pointers in leading all scorers with 14, adding 6 rebounds and three steals. Massie tallied nine and Warren 7, and the Demon post players combined for 10 rebounds. Taylor scored 6 with 5 steals, and Gutierrez had 6 assists and 5 steals for the Demons. The Tigers’ 5-10 sophomore, Anna Tomlinson led her team with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Glenwood (9-7) improved to 4-2 in league with a chance to overtake Palisade (6-8, 2-1) when the Bulldogs, who beat the Demons 39-26 at home, come to Chavez-Spencer on Thursday.
