The play-in round of the 2025 CHSAA 5A state tournament was just a building block for the Glenwood Springs varsity girls basketball team as their playoff push began. 

The No. 27 Demons hosted the No. 38 Cheyenne Mountain Red-Tailed Hawks on Wednesday night, but sent them flying back home after demolishing them 51-33 at home.  

Wednesday marked Glenwood’s first playoff win since their 2022-23 postseason run, when they advanced to the state tournament’s final four.

“It’s just great to get a win on our home floor,” Demons head coach Jordan DeCrow said. “It’s tough to keep them loose, especially after a whole season of harping on them to stay in the system. Credit to Cheyenne Mountain, they came out swinging and put us on our heels but our girls responded to the changes we made at halftime. It was a lot of fun.”

The Demons simply played a cleaner brand of basketball on Wednesday night. The turnover ratio was massively in favor of the home team, and the Demons committed seven less infractions over the course of the game.

Cheyenne Mountain came out aggressive, but Glenwood quickly regained control. The Demons led 14-8 after the first quarter and extended their advantage in the second by capitalizing on turnovers.

Glenwood extended their lead beyond recoverability with two and a half minutes remaining in the second quarter by adding six points to their total within seconds. On back to back possessions, seniors Chloe Davies and Lyndsay Helms converted on-and-one plays with a defensive steal in between. 

They entered the break with a ten point lead but really ran away with the game during the third quarter. The Demons held the Red-Tailed Hawks to four points in the third period of play as the slippery ball couldn’t find a safe home in any of the visiting players hands. 

At the most, the Demons held a 20-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but Glenwood lost focus down the stretch, letting the Red-Tailed Hawks claw back into the game. Cheyenne Mountain’s comeback efforts were far too little far too late though as Glenwood cruised to a 51-33 home win. 

DeCrow wasn’t overly worried about the lapse in focus down the stretch as she knows her team and what they need to do to be successful. 

“We just have to stay focused,” she said. “The biggest thing is just to keep grinding. All of the cliche things need to happen—getting good looks, playing tight defense, and running our offense successfully.”

Glenwood advances to the CHSAA 5A state tournament’s quarterfinal round. The Demons will face No. 6 Mullen on Saturday at a neutral site on the Front Range.

Glenwood boys basketball falls to Pueblo Central in heartbreaking defeat

The 5A Western Slope League Champs GSHS boys basketball team also made the play-in round of the 5A state tournament, but fell in heartbreaking fashion to the Pueblo Central Wildcats 73-71 on Tuesday night in Pueblo. 

The game was tense and tight through the entirety of the game, but Pueblo held the lead from wire to wire. Glenwood senior big man Jamison Godfread played with his hair on fire on Tuesday night — finishing his final high school game with 32 points. 

“While we are disappointed with the outcome, we played a great game and have no regrets regarding our focus or effort,” Glenwood head coach Matt Chilson said. “It was a great season, with ups and downs, but we were able to end playing our best ball of the season and had every player committed to winning and playing for one another.”