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The old rivalry flame has faded

Demons’ girls handle Cortez in non-SWL play
Shilo Gillen and Durango put a stop to Kiselya Plewe and Montezuma-Cortez on Tuesday. Gillen also scored seven points, which helped the Demons find more balanced offense.

Playing an old rival didn’t feel the same for the Durango Demons.

The Durango High School girls basketball team hosted Montezuma-Cortez on Tuesday night, but the game didn’t have the same meaning as recent years when the two sides competed in the Class 4A/5A Southwestern League.

After a 0-18 season, the Panthers dropped to the Class 3A Intermountain League. Tuesday’s result, however, was much the same as a year ago when DHS beat Montezuma-Cortez by 20-plus points on two occasions, with DHS claiming a 60-31 win.

“I think we were all pumped with a rivalry game,” said DHS junior forward Danica Dudley. “We were excited to be out there with the big crowd.”

The Demons (12-2, 1-1 SWL) jumped out to a 14-5 lead after one quarter and a 29-10 advantage at halftime. Senior guard Katie Wiegert scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the first half. She exited with 5 minutes, 11 seconds to play in the fourth quarter after receiving a hard foul and sustaining a cut on her head. She returned to the DHS bench minutes later.

Wiegert finished the game 7-of-11 shooting from the field.

But, for DHS, the game was all about working several players into the mix while honoring seniors early.

“The goal was to maintain our habit of play,” DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. “We started a bit differently with the seniors, some girls who don’t typically start, because it was their last home game against Cortez. They did a great job starting us off and maintaining our habit of play.”

Katrina Chandler and Dudley both scored eight points, Shilo Gillen had seven, and Shaelee Hawkins and Payton Randle each had six for a well-rounded Demons squad.

“I had a lot of confidence on the floor, which is kind of a new thing for me,” said Dudley, daughter of Ed and Karla Dudley. “I relaxed, and it helped me feel good out there.”

Fitzpatrick was happy to see the scoring more spread out amongst his team, which has been led offensively by Chandler and Wiegert all season.

“That’s big for us. Somewhere down the line we’re really going to need the third or fourth scorer to step up,” he said.

The Panthers (4-8, 0-4 IML) were led by Kiselya Plewe’s six points. Kelcie Ralstin added five, and Nicole Demky and Tayla Topaha each had four points.

Though the Demons won big, DHS struggled to box out the Panthers on the offensive glass.

“We talked about it, and we know we didn’t get better (Tuesday),” Fitzpatrick said. “We had some slippage. We talked about needing to come back and improve.”

DHS will hit the road for a 6 p.m. game Friday at Montrose, the Demons’ top-competition among the 4A teams in the SWL.

“We’re all looking forward to it. We’re going to hit the weight room hard this week,” Dudley said. “If we play as a team and all pull our weight, we can win.”

jlivingston@durangoherald.com



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