By Mike Vidakovich With the arrival of the Christmas season, local basketball fans know the annual Demon Invitational Tournament at Glenwood Springs High School can’t be far behind. The Demon boys and girls were tested by a familiar foe in Thursday night’s first round action, as the Faith Christian Eagles came calling to the Chavez-Spencer Gymnasium.
The youthful Glenwood girls started the evening off in fine fashion, treating the home crowd to a 43-35 victory. The win over the 3A Eagles from the Denver Metropolitan League evened Glenwood’s record at 2-2 for the preseason portion of the schedule.
In complete control for most of the contest, the Demons were forced to overcome an early fourth quarter barrage of Faith Christian 3-pointers, as the visitors tied the game at 35-35 with 1:57 left to play, forcing Glenwood to refocus their efforts to hold on late and seal the outcome on key baskets by seniors Ximena Gutierrez and Emily Worline.
“We weren’t as intense as we were in the first half,” said Rhonda Moser, Glenwood’s head coach. “We let them control that third quarter, but I was proud of how the girls slowed it down there at the end, gained their composure, and pulled it out.”
A 10-0 deficit is what the Eagles were facing in the game’s initial stages as the Demons came out running and full-court pressing. Baskets by senior Ashley Barragan, Gutierrez, and Worline helped fuel the early Demon inferno.
The only offense the Eagles mustered came from forward Ashley Finch, who finished the night by topping Faith in scoring with 14 points. Finch was scored on a couple of soft shots from the block to pull the Eagles within 12-7.
Glenwood senior guard Logan Nieslanik countered Finch’s scoring with a quick trip down the right side of the key for a layup. Sophomore post Graci Dietrich got a rebound and scored on a put back to put Glenwood up 20-9. Junior Hadley Yellico canned a long 3-pointer as the Demons were on cruise control with a 23-11 lead at intermission.
Glenwood grew the margin to 29-13 on a basket by junior Qwynn Massie and two scores from Nieslanik. But the comfort zone the Demons had built for most of the contest completely evaporated with 6:49 left to play as Faith had pulled to within 33-30, setting up the late-game drama for Glenwood.
Gutierrez led the balanced Demon scoring ledger with 9 points. Nieslanik chipped in with 7 points.
Glenwood will face Canon City at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night in the tournament semifinals.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Faith Christian 58, Glenwood Springs 44
On Thursday night inside the Chavez-Spencer Gymnasium, the Glenwood Springs boys raced up and down the basketball court to open the game like a desperado chasing the last boxcar out of town. It caught Faith Christian off guard initially and forced the Eagles to turn the ball over on numerous possessions. But unfortunately for the Demons, their own defensive aggression proved to be their undoing, as a rash of fouls in the first half started a Faith Christian march to the …read more
Via:: Post Independent