FRISCO (2-4-20) – A minute into the fourth quarter, the Glenwood Lady Demons held a 4-point lead when Summit County put back a missed shot … AND SUDDENLY THE SCORE WAS TIED. Glenwood coach Rhonda Moser protested the erasure of her team’s 43-41 lead, but the referees said the home scorebook was official.
Qwynn Massie’s twisting bank shot on a Natalya Taylor pass on Glenwood’s first possession of the quarter had disappeared into the Twilight Zone.
Summit took a brief lead, but Glenwood, perhaps in righteous retaliation, scored the next 15 points to win its ninth straight game, 62-52 (Qwynn, your basket is restored, at least for KMTS).
The boys made sure any further scoreboard shenanigans (and there were some) were irrelevant, exploding to a 20-8 first-quarter lead on the way to extending their winning streak to eleven, 54-38.
GLENWOOD GIRLS 62, SUMMIT COUNTRY 52
Summit’s Autumn Rivera, who had “tied” the game when the official book erased Massie’s basket, gave the Tigers their first lead of the second half, 43-41 with 6:13 to play.
Taylor, who had scored 42 points in Glenwood’s last two road wins, regained the lead with a 3-pointer and Kenzie Winder and Michelle Marshall took it from there.
Winder made a pair of free throws after she and Marshall combined on a steal, then Taylor’s rebound and length of the court pass led to Winder’s layup.
Marshall scored on Massie’s offensive rebound and feed, then on passes from Ella Johnson and Taylor. Taylor’s steal and layup made it 15 straight points and a 56-43 lead with 2:05 to go.
“We made some good decisions at the end of the game after coming out flat and slow and couldn’t get much rhythm,” coach Rhonda Moser said.
Glenwood actually put up 16 points in the first quarter, with Taylor and Massie scoring 6 apiece, but the Tigers, after taking an early 9-4 lead, led 18-17 at the break when Rivera got loose inside.
The lead changed hands twice in the opening minutes of the second quarter, with yet another Summit offensive rebound leading to a score, and Rivera’s bucket put the Tigers on top 21-18 with 4:44 left in the half.
Moser called a timeout, which led to increased defensive intensity by the Demons, who shut out Summit for the next two minutes. Glenwood didn’t score either, missing its next seven shots, until Marshall made two free throws with 2:42 to go, cutting the lead to one. Freshman Brina Babich, made it 23-20, but Zeva Carruth’s first varsity 3-pointer knotted the score with 2:20 remaining.
Summit missed its fifth of seven first-half free throws, and Joslyn Spires’ trey and subsequent driving score helped Glenwood to a 28-25 halftime lead.
In the locker room at intermission Moser talked to her players about “getting outworked, rebounding and getting back on defense.” Summit had turned six offensive boards into eight points in the first half.
The Demons increased their lead to 41-36 with Maddie Moser and Marshall combining to score nine of the 14-11 margin in the third period.
Then the fun began. Massie’s basket gave Glenwood a 43-39 lead after Nicole Kimball’s 3-pointer, but somehow the score was tied at 41 after Rivera’s putback.
“I was proud of how the girls responded and finished,” Moser said of the 21-16 fourth quarter. The win keeps Glenwood undefeated at 7-0 in Western Slope League play and 15-3 overall, ranked tenth in the state.
Marshall set a career high with 18 points to lead all scorers, supported by 13 from Taylor and 10 by Massie.
GLENWOOD BOYS 54, SUMMIT COUNTY 38
In the league opener at Glenwood, Summit (9-8, 4-3 WSL) took an early third quarter lead before losing 54-40. “That gave them hope,” coach Fred Heisel said. This time, “We tried to take that away in the first quarter,” which the Demons did, holding the Tigers to 2-for-10 shooting and scoring the final seven points of the period for a 20-8 score, paced by John Iuele’s 6 points.
A 16-6 second period made the halftime score 36-14 as Summit managed to make just 2-of-15 shots. Especially promising for the Demons were nine points off the bench from Gabe Kimbrough and Blake Nieslanik.
The pace slowed considerably in the second half, but Glenwood’s defense held Summit to just five shots and forced six turnovers as the Demons increased their lead to 47-22. Heisel praised the defense throughout, which “led to easy opportunities on the fast break.”
The Demon coach also complimented Iuele’s leadership: “John’s as good a point guard as there is,” and his unselfish attitude in taking a seat to get others some second-half playing time, “which will benefit us down the road,” Heisel added.
Iuele led the Demons with 10 points, all in the first half, adding 4 assists to his league leading total of 73. Patrick Young had 8 points and 8 rebounds, along with 3 assists and 3 steals. Mitchell Burt also tallied 8 for the Demons, as did Adam Schrader, setting a personal career high. Nieslanik, becoming more of a factor for what has been a thin Demon bench, scored 7 points for the second straight game. Though just scoring 3 points, Will Narvaez’ 14 rebounds increased his WSL best total to 165 more than 50 better than the league’s runner up. “Will takes rebounding very seriously,” Heisel stated. “It’s as important as a defensive stop.” Narvaez continued his all-around play with 5 steals and 4 assists, both of which he’s in the league’s top ten.
Friday, Glenwood (15-3, 7-0) will host Rifle (7-9, 1-5), which challenged the Demons down to the last 30 seconds before losing 49-45 in the Bears Den.
