John Stroud/Post Independent
A Hail Mary from Glenwood Springs sophomore Reid Swanson was all the spark the Demons needed to play their way into the home basketball tourney championship.
Though Swanson’s three-pointer came early in the game at the very end of the first quarter, it set the tone for an eventual 64-44 blowout that was even bigger than the final score suggested.
Holding an 8-5 advantage over Alamosa after a rather sloppy first 8 minutes of play for both teams, Swanson took the long in-bounds pass with just 1.3 seconds showing on the clock and lofted a high archer from about 2 feet beyond the 3-point arc.
The ball came straight down through the cylinder, and Swanson was met with a host of high-fives and chest bumps on the way back to the bench.
Glenwood then outscored the visiting Mean Moose 25-11 through the second quarter to take a commanding 36-16 lead into the locker room at the annual Demon Invitational at GSHS.
“That’s just another example how close our team is,” Demons head coach Fred Heisel said. “We support each other, and when one of us fails, we all fail, and when one of us succeeds, we all succeed.
“It’s just a lot of fun when you’re playing on a team like that.”
Glenwood built the lead to 28 heading into the fourth quarter. With things well in hand, Heisel was able to give some of his starters a bit of rest before the Saturday afternoon championship game.
The Demons will face Montrose — 54-44 winners over Coal Ridge in the other semifinal — at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Spencer-Chavez Gymnasium.
Senior Mitchell Burt led all Demon scorers with 27 points on the night, including five 3-pointers. Fellow senior John Iuele added 13.
John Stroud/Post Independent
The Mean Moose were led by the senior tandem of Ian Jackson and Brenden Crowther, who each scored 15 points.
Key rebounds made a big difference for Glenwood Springs, as Alamosa wasn’t given very many second chances.
“They scored at least 15 off second chances last night (a 56-53 win over Faith Christian),” Heisel said. “Tonight, we owned the boards. They were not able to do what did last night against us today.”
Montrose will pose a tough challenge for the Demons to win their own tournament.
“They’re a team that every year has a well-disciplined program that executes, plays hard and is well-coached,” Heisel said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
