An offensive barrage for Erie out of the gate Tuesday night put the Glenwood Springs High School girls basketball team in a 30-9 hole after the first quarter of play.
It proved too deep, as the No. 5 Tigers rolled to a 86-54 Sweet 16 win on their home court, halting a 15-game win streak for the No. 12 Lady Demons, who conclude their season at 21-4.
The regular season saw coach Rhonda Moser’s team run the table to win the Western Slope League title — the Demons’ first in six years.
“Tough loss, but a great season,” Moser said after the season-ending loss. “As I told the girls, when you get to this point in the season someone goes home with a loss, but it doesn’t take away from a really incredible season. I love these kids. They’re fighters.”
Glenwood entered the 48-team state playoffs as the No. 12 seed, earning a first-round bye before defeating Lewis-Palmer 42-29 last Friday.
But the team met its match in a tough road battle against a talented, aggressive team that took advantage of several Demon turnovers as the game progressed.
Glenwood was down six, 15-9, before the Tigers (23-2) went on a 15-0 run to close out the opening 8-minute stanza. The Demons were down 55-23 at the half, but managed to outscore the Tigers 13-11 in the third followed by a 20-18 fourth quarter in favor of the Tigers to hold the margin.
“At this stage, you have to put four quarters together,” Moser said. “We got beat fair and square by a really good team.”
Senior Natalya Taylor led the Demons in scoring with 13 points, followed by fellow senior Michelle Marshall with 10.
It was the final game in a Demons jersey for six seniors, including Taylor, Marshall, Qwynn Massie, Hadley Yellico, Zeva Carruth and Kate Shanahan.
A trio of sophomores led the scoring for Erie, including Grace Moyers with 19, Deb Altshuler with 18 and Edie Morrow with 17.
Meanwhile, the No. 2 Glenwood Springs boys have a shot at extending their postseason run Wednesday when they host the No. 15 Green Mountain Rams at Chavez-Spencer Gymnasium. Game time is 6 p.m.