EDWARDS (1/31/20) – Coming to Battle Mountain used to pose no threat for Glenwood basketball teams – no more. Both the Demon boys and girls remained undefeated in Western Slope League play after hard-fought, come-from-behind wins over the Huskies. Natalya Taylor poured in 25 points as the Lady Demons steadily pulled away to a 58-34 win after trading the lead four times in the first quarter. Gabe Kimbrough came off the bench in the boys game for 13 points, helping the Demons rally from an 11-point deficit to escape with a 62-57 win.
GLENWOOD BOYS 62, BATTLE MOUNTAIN 57
Down 35-24 with less than a minute to go until halftime, Glenwood’s “Glue guy,” as Patrick Young called Will Narvaez in a post-game interview, found Adam Schrader underneath for a basket and after a Husky turnover, rebounded a miss and put it back in to reduce the deficit to a manageable seven points.
In the halftime locker room, Young said the 4th-ranked Demons concluded they would “determine our own fate” in the second half and “came out with energy and defense.”
Coach Fred Heisel also inserted Kimbrough, who hadn’t played in the first half, into the third quarter starting lineup.
“I was ready to play,” Kimbrough said. Was he ever. On Glenwood’s first possession, the little-used, 5-8 senior took a kick-out pass from Narvaez and drained a three pointer, cutting the Battle Mountain lead to 35-31.
Kimbrough was at the center of a subsequent 8-0 Demon run that gave Glenwood its first lead of the game, 39-37. “In the first half we were playing ‘park ball,’ not running our sets, but we’ve played together so long, there were no nerves,” Kimbrough said. He buried another trey to tie the game at 37, then Young scooped up a loose ball and finished for the lead.
The Huskies’ 6-6 Liam McKenny, plagued all game by foul trouble regained the lead for the home team, but Kimbrough, who had 8 points in the quarter, scored again to send the teams into the fourth period tied at 41.
“We know what Gabe can do. We’ve played together since middle school,” Young stated, and his third 3-pointer of the game capped a 7-2 start to the final frame for a 48-43 Glenwood lead.
But McKenny hit a jumper and Luis Trillo matched Kimbrough with his third trey off the Husky bench to tie the score with 4:20 to play.
Young, a 76 per cent free throw shooter for the season, hit both ends of a one-and-one to give the Demons a lead they would not relinquish with 4:12 remaining. Kimbrough scored again, and Narvaez, who finished with a career high 14 points in the absence of 6-4 teammate AJ Adams, converted a 3-point play and John Iuele drove around McKenny for a 57-49 Demon lead with 2:51 to go.
Battle Mountain, winless in WSL play, mounted one more threat as Trillo and McKenny splashed home a pair of treys, slicing the lead to 60-57 with 30 seconds left.
Once again, Young stepped to the free throw line, making both shots to improve the Demons’ league mark to 5-0, and their overall record to 13-3.
Iuele and Narvaez combined for 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists with the Demon post also blocking 4 shots. Kimbrough finished with 13 and Young added 10 points and 6 rebounds.
Hadiya Dath came off the bench to score 11 of Battle Mountain’s 21 second-quarter points, leading the team with 18. McKinny had 17 for the Huskies (6-7, 0-3).
GLENWOOD GIRLS 58, BATTLE MOUNTAIN 34
Taylor summed up the challenge at Battle Mountain after a 12-0 second quarter run broke a 15-15 tie, saying, “They’re rough, aggressive, and want to win. We play better against tough competition.”
Gaby Caballero, the league’s leading scorer, with Taylor just behind her, provided most of that competition, driving the Huskies (4-8, 1-2 WSL) to a 10-8 first-quarter lead with 6 points and 8 rebounds. Hadley Yellico, mired in an 0-for-9 three-point shooting slump, broke out of it, coming off the bench to give Glenwood an 11-10 advantage it would not yield the rest of the game.
Clinging to a slim 13-12 margin, Taylor opened the second quarter with a steal and assist to Maddie Moser, but Caballero’s 3-pointer knotted the score with seven minutes to go until halftime.
That was the Huskies’ and Caballero’s last gasp. Fueled by Taylor’s 10-point quarter, the Demons ran off 12 straight points, including treys by Taylor and Kenzie Winder, and led 32-19 at halftime.
Despite going scoreless for the middle four minutes of the third quarter, Glenwood still maintained a 39-28 lead into the final period.
Qwynn Massie, the league’s 3rd-leading scorer, was held to just two free throws through the first three quarters, but had a 6-point, 5-rebound fourth period as the Demons (13-3, 5-0) extinguished any Husky hopes with a 13-0 stretch to conclude the game.
In addition to her career scoring game, Taylor added four assists to her league-leading total, also grabbing 8 rebounds and 4 steals. Massie, who has the most rebounds in the WSL, scored 8 and pulled down 10 boards. Moser and Michelle Marshall each scored five, with Marshall adding 9 rebounds and Moser dishing out five assists.
Caballero was held scoreless in the second half, finishing with 9 points. Alden Pennington, who led the league in three-pointers coming into the game, missed all five of her attempts.
The Demons’ road show continues at Palisade Saturday afternoon.
