EDWARDS (1/8/16) – It was a night for milestones, and like all such events, some were sweet and others bitter. For Cam Horning, the frosting on his Glenwood Springs team’s 64-54 victory at Battle Mountain came two minutes after halftime when his 3-pointer brought his four-year, career total to 1,000 points scored. For the night, Horning tallied 31 as the Demons pulled away from the Huskies in the last two minutes, turning a one-point lead into the final 10-point margin.
In the girls’ game, the after-taste lingered unpleasantly as the Lady Huskies snapped an 18-game losing streak to Glenwood with a 61-58 thriller that featured six lead changes in the final quarter. In the end, Battle Mountain’s “Mighty Mite” 5-3 Monique Stevens outdueled Glenwood’s diminutive Megan Uren, scoring 8 of her 24 points down the stretch, while Uren missed four 3-point attempts in the last two minutes as the Huskies seized the lead and held on for the win.
GLENWOOD BOYS 64, BATTLE MOUNTAIN 54
Horning poured in 14 points as he and his teammates appeared to have scored a TKO in the first quarter with a 22-5 opening stanza. But Battle Mountain used a pair of 3-pointers and a sudden dominance under the boards – especially on the offensive end – scoring 12 unanswered points in the first three minutes of the second quarter and trimming a 17-point deficit to 5. The Huskies’ Demetrius Parrish came off the bench to face-guard Horning, shutting off his offensive surge.
Battle Mountain got within two with 3:30 left in the half before a triple by Mason Yellico and a steal by Horning led to the 6-3 Glenwood senior’s only points of the quarter on a step-back trey. The Huskies outrebounded the Demons, 13-1 as they scored a 24-13 quarter advantage. A steal by Zach Johnson led to AJ Crowley’s layup just before halftime for a 35-29 Demon margin at intermission.
Horning scored on a drive to open the third quarter, then dropped in the 3-pointer that sent the visiting Glenwood fans to their feet for a prolonged ovation. The basket, coming at the 6:10 mark, also boosted the Demon lead to nine points, but again the Huskies battled back, using a 10-4 edge under the glass to fuel an 11-2 run, punctuated by Abdoulaye Dath’s 3-pointer off an inbounds pass that tied the score at 42 with a minute remaining.
Yellico’s driving shot in the final seconds put Glenwood up by two going into the final period, but second chances following offensive rebounds led to a basket by Dath and a 3-pointer by Devin Huffman, giving Battle Mountain its first lead of the game, 47-44 a minute into the final frame.
Horning took over, feeding Crowley for a layup and scoring on back-to-back penetrations to the bucket with Luke Gair also making a driving shot as an 8-1 run put Glenwood up by four. The Huskies got within a point, 52-51 with 2:30 to go, but Horning’s teammates stepped up in the closing minutes: Angel Garcia scored on a driving jumper, Crowley made a pair of free throws, and Yellico fed Jake Townsley, then sank two-of-four free throws as the Demons ripped off 8 straight points. Meanwhile, Battle Mountain was missing seven consecutive 3-point attempts and by the time Dath hit one with 15 seconds left, the outcome, and Glenwood’s 2-0 Western Slope League start was secured. The Demons evened their season record at 4-4, while Battle Mountain (1-2, WSL) dropped to 4-5.
BATTTLE MOUNTAIN 61, GLENWOOD GIRLS 58
Coming off a career-best 23-point effort in the Demons’ league opening win over Delta before Christmas, sophomore Tatum Peterson discovered that the ups-and-downs of high school basketball can play havoc with momentum. The 6-foot Peterson missed a couple of early inside attempts at Battle Mountain, then four straight free throws before taking a seat with her second foul in the first quarter, an 8-8 standoff.
Peterson didn’t get another shot off until the fourth quarter because of continued foul trouble. Uren picked up the slack with 7 points in the 2nd quarter, but the Demons still trailed 22-21 at the half. Sophomores Saylor Warren and Madi Bolitho combined for 11 in the third quarter, but Stevens matched that total, and the Huskies held a 39-37 edge going into the final frame.
Peterson re-entered the game, playing with four fouls and quickly turned a pair of offensive rebounds into four points, sandwiched around a basket and free throw by Vanessa Davila, who came in when Madi Hert fouled out 30 seconds into the quarter. Davila soon picked up her 5th foul and Peterson joined them on the bench with 4:17 to go. Stevens made the free throws following Peterson’s 5th foul, giving Battle Mountain a 49-47 lead.
Sophomore Ellie Moser showed a cool hand at the line, making four straight free throws, surrounding Makena Warren’s 3-pointer, giving Glenwood (2-6, 1-1 WSL) its last lead, 54-51 with 3 minutes to go. But with all of the Lady Demons’ post-players out of the game, the inside opened up for the Huskies(3-5, 1-2) with Stevens and Stephany Hernandez scoring on layups for a 55-54 lead they would not relinquish for the final two minutes.
Uren and Makena Warren missed on their last six 3-point attempts, while Stevens made two more free throws before having to leave the game after a collision with a trapping Saylor Warren. Her replacement, Claire Krueger made 2-of-4 from the line to hold off the Demons as a last second 3-pointer that banked in by Bolitho was waved off by the referees as not beating the end-game buzzer.
MaKena Warren and Bolitho set season scoring highs with 15 and 11, respectively, but Peterson had just those four, 4th-quarter points, though she did grab 11 rebounds. Jessica Sullivan supported Stevens’ 24 points, scoring 16 and grabbing 11 boards.
