The ball settled into Durango High School lacrosse goalie Walker Brown’s stick as the clock showed all zeroes.

Brown’s 14th save of the game clinched the Demons’ first-ever victory over Grand Junction 7-6 on Friday at DHS.

“He’s been the rock all season,” DHS head coach John Robinette said. “I knew he could come through.”

The Demons survived a last-gasp rush by the Tigers down a man because of a three-minute, nonreleasable penalty after one of their players left the penalty box early – “a mental error,” Robinette said.

Stephen Foster cut Grand Junction’s deficit to 7-6 with 1 minute, 29 seconds left, but Brown saved a buzzer-beater shot that would have sent it to overtime.

“They played with heart. They never gave up,” Grand Junction head coach James States said. “I’ve got to be proud of them for that. They just couldn’t finish the game.”

DHS (8-3, 4-2 Mountain League) held a two-goal lead for much of the second half after Jacob Boyle ripped a rocket shot from way outside the crease with 2:46 left in the third quarter to put the Demons up 6-4.

Jared Cook tied the game at four with 9:26 remaining in the third period, and Duncan Whitley gave the Demons their first lead of the second half with 5:38 to go in the third.

“They could have scored at any minute in that past game,” said Cook, son of Bill Cook and Tamara Lazar. “To be able to keep putting them in (the net) in that kind of situation is crucial.”

DHS played catch-up for much of the first half after Kirk Fletcher scored 26 seconds into the game. He scored two more goals in the first quarter, but Cook got the last word, tying the game at 3 with 1:20 left.

The Demons didn’t score in the second quarter and trailed 4-3 at halftime.

Cook tied for the team lead with two goals and added an assist.

Boyle also found the back of the net twice, while Trevor Gabbard, Liam Millar and Whitley also scored.

That kind of balance and development allowed DHS to take down Grand Junction (6-4, 5-3 ML) for the first time in program history.

“We’ve been getting whupped by these guys every year,” said Brown, son of Walt Brown and Helen-Mary Johnson. “For them to come down here and us serve them on home turf was pretty nice.”

The Demons can’t bask in the glory of their victory for too long, though.

League third-place Battle Mountain rolls into town at 11 a.m. Saturday, closing out three games in three days for DHS.

“It’s the best momentum we could have had,” Brown said. “Getting this win (Friday) is just what we needed.”

kgrabowski@durangoherald.com