FARMER’S CORNER (2/7/17) — “My shot has been off most of the season; tonight it was there,” Glenwood’s Maddie Bolitho understated after scoring a career-high 20 points and sinking four 3-pointers as the Lady Demons defeated Summit, 55-30, in Frisco, Tuesday.
The Glenwood Springs boys basketball team used a different approach as nine players scored from one-to-nine points in prevailing over Summit, 47-37, to sustain the Demons’ hopes of a league championship.
GLENWOOD GIRLS 57, SUMMIT 30
With Summit collapsing on 6-1 Tatum Peterson, who had 16 in the Lady Demons’ earlier win over the Tigers (46-31, January 21, in Glenwood), Bolitho recalled, “Our outside shooters knew we had to step it up to win; they were guarding Tatum well inside.” Coach Rhonda Moser agreed: “I told the girls, ‘Shoot the ball,’ because they were boxing in Tatum. Maddie was on fire tonight.”
Bolitho set the tone early, nailing a pair of threes around a steal and layup by Ximena Gutierrez to key an opening 14-1 run to start the game. Summit scored the final 6 points to close within 17-9 by the end of the quarter, but Dani DeCrow popped a three to begin the second, and she and Bolitho stretched the lead to 24-11 by the 5:12 mark with two more baskets.
The Tigers again battled back, scoring seven straight before a Bolitho drive and her feed to Peterson inside gave Glenwood a 28-20 halftime advantage, built on 12 points by Bolitho and a sizzling 12 of 23 from the floor.
After another score from Bolitho extended the lead to 32-21 with five minutes to go in the third, the Demons went cold, missing nine straight shots and tallying just a single free throw in the next four minutes.
Glenwood’s press, including a couple of steals from Saylor Warren and Bolitho kept Summit from gaining as they went 1-for-8 with 4 turnovers during that span. So, when Lauren Howell’s 3-pointer broke the spell with 1:35 left in the quarter, followed by a Bolitho-to-Peterson connection, the Demons led by fifteen, 38-23 going into the final quarter.
Bolitho rained in two more 3-pointers, going 4-for-7 in the game to exceed her season best back in December, and Howell added another as Glenwood smothered any thoughts Summit might have of a fourth-quarter comeback, 17-6.
“We’re starting to get some momentum as a team,” Moser said, recalling the Demons’ 39-37 win at Eagle last Thursday, as Glenwood (9-11, 5-4) topped the .500 mark in Western Slope play for the first time this season.
Bolitho added 6 assists to her 20 points, with Peterson getting her ninth double-double, 10 points and 10 rebounds, DeCrow scoring 7, Howell 6. Warren pulled down 7 rebounds and Natalya Taylor 5 to help the Demons to a 37-30 margin off the glass. Bolitho and Gutierrez, both in the league’s top five in steals, each grabbed three.
GLENWOOD BOYS 47, SUMMIT 37
“This is a hard place to play with the altitude (over 9,000 feet) and the crowd here in Summit,” Demon boys coach Cory Hitchcock said after his team’s red-hot 13-of-23 first half shooting cooled to 5-of-27 in the final two frames. “We tired quickly tonight.,” the coach added. “When we play good defense and share the ball, good things happen. Then we start to overdribble, get scattered, and show our youth.”
Glenwood built a 28-16 first half lead, led by Carlos Nolasco-Montes and AJ Crowley, who combined for 13 points. But after Luke Gair’s jumper put the Demons in front by 14, Glenwood went six minutes without a basket. Summit’s Jorge Jasso hurled up a desperate three from the hip as the quarter ended, drawing the Tigers within eight, 34-26.
Summit trimmed the margin to 36-31 and nearly down to two points as Turner McDonald’s trey just rimmed out at the 5-minute mark. Aaron Smith made a pair of free throws and Nolasco-Montes hit a jumper to restore the lead to nine with 3:10 to go.
The Tigers made one final push when McDonald hit from beyond the arc, and Mario Ramirez scored to make it 42-37 with 50 seconds left. The Demons missed two of their next three free throws, but Crowley and Smith sank four straight in the final 16 seconds to sew up the victory.
Nolasco-Montes had 7 rebounds as he and Crowley paced Glenwood with 9 points each, followed by 8 from Smith and 6 by Kevin Ayon, who added 4 assists and improved his season 3-point accuracy to 53 per cent (8-of-15) with a trey in the first half, the only one the Demons made in ten attempts. Holden Kleager contributed good inside defense and had 4 rebounds, two steals, and a block.
“Closing the season with four games on the road, every win is crucial,” Hitchcock said, as the Demons (11-9, 6-3) moved into second place behind Eagle Valley (14-6, 7-2), which beat Rifle (8-11, 5-4) 61-48 Tuesday.
Glenwood travels to Steamboat Springs (8-11, 4-4) on Thursday, then to Battle Mountain (7-12, 4-5) Friday, before finishing the regular season in the Bears Den, Thursday, February 16.
