The Glenwood Springs girls took on the Grand Junction Tigers Thursday night at the Chavez-Spencer Gymnasium and came away with a 54-10 victory to up their record to 11-5, as the high school basketball season begins the countdown to regional and state playoffs at the end of February.

Once a perennial big school powerhouse, the Tigers came limping into the contest with the Demons with an 0-15 record, and from the get-go, Glenwood was determined to keep them winless on the season.

Before fans could even get settled into their seats, senior guard Breauna Sorensen opened the scoring for the Demons with a 3-pointer and fellow senior Joslyn Spires followed that up with a pair of triples to get Glenwood off and running in fine fashion.

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Full-court pressure was the order of the day for Glenwood, and the Tigers were unable to solve the defensive puzzle with Demon defenders seemingly coming at them in waves. Senior Tori Taylor contributed six first-quarter points to help Glenwood jump out to a big 17-3 lead.

The Tigers didn’t fare much better in the second quarter against the talented Demons, scoring just one point to trail 31-4. Senior Mattea Enewold got in the scoresheet with a couple of baskets during the stanza and junior Bailey Winder hit a mid-range jumper to close things out heading to the half.

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Spires and Taylor had 11 points each at the half for Glenwood. Sorensen contributed five assists and four steals.

Junior reserve guard Madison Stewart kept the Demon scoring onslaught going in the third quarter with a basket and junior Taia Nykerk hit a 3-pointer to push Glenwood to an unheard of lead at 42-4. Coach Rhonda Moser began to substitute liberally at that point, getting game experience for all of her bench players. Promising sophomores Chloe Davies and Lyndsey Helms played the entire fourth quarter for the Demons.

Stat sheet stuffers for Glenwood included Spires with 15 points, Taylor 13 points, Nykerk 7 points, Stewart and Enewold each dropped in six points. Sorensen finished with eight assists and six steals.

The Thursday win came on the heels of another convincing Lady Demons home win two nights before, 44-29 over Summit.

Glenwood will swing back into action Tuesday with a league game at home against Battle Mountain before hitting the road Saturday to take on the Durango Demons who are the top-ranked girls team on the Western Slope.

Other recent girls basketball scores:

Saturday: Moffat County 54, Rifle 43

Friday: Grand Valley 50, Meeker 44 (Grand Valley improves to 9-3 overall and 8-0 to lead the 3A Western Slope League); North Fork 52, Roaring Fork 42

Tuesday: Grand Valley 46, Olathe 39

Demon boys edge Tigers

The Glenwood boys closed out the doubleheader of basketball on Thursday with a thrilling 58-55 win in a game that featured multiple lead changes.

Junior Alec Classen hit a fade away jumper just prior to the first period buzzer to give the Demons a narrow 12-11 lead in a quarter where the lead seesawed back and forth several times.

Junior Argeny Renteria and senior Edwin Olave each scored for Glenwood to give the Demons their biggest lead of the game at 19-14 midway through the second quarter. Glenwood’s lead swelled slightly to 23-17, but the Tigers went on an 8-2 scoring run to close out the half and knot things at 25-all.

The Grand Junction combination of seniors Jake Stanfield and Jase Satterfield kept the Tigers stride for stride with the Demons in the first half by shouldering much of the scoring burden for Junction.

In the third period, senior guard Erick Cordero turned in a key play for Glenwood by banking in a 3-pointer while being fouled in the process. Cordero hit the toss from the charity stripe to complete the four-point play and give the Demons a 31-27 lead.

From there, the Tigers got multiple contributors to step to the forefront to propel them to a 43-39 lead at the end of the third period. Seniors Cameron Ochoa and Andon Tow got into the scoring column, and sophomore Will Applegate hit for five points in the period for Grand Junction.

In the deciding frame, Ochoa shook himself free of the Glenwood defense and hit his third 3-pointer of the game to give the Tigers a 46-39 lead. Junior guard Sim Wenger then hit a pair of free throws for Glenwood, but it was Ochoa immediately answering with another long bomb for a 49-41 Junction advantage.

Guard Aiden Peters hit a 3-pointer for Glenwood to narrow the Tiger lead to 49-46 with just under 4 minutes to play in the contest.

Just moments later, Wenger hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 51 apiece with 1:36 to go in regulation and the finish line in sight for both teams.

Wenger saved the day for his team once again in the game’s exciting waning moments. Following a Grand Junction turnover, Wenger hit a 3-pointer from the top of the circle and then stole a Tiger pass on the ensuing possession to give the Demons their fourth win in a row, improving their record to 10-7 on the season.

Wenger led the Demons with 21 points, Renteria and Classen chipped in with 10 points, Cordero had nine points and Peters hit for seven points.

The Demon boys will join the girls Tuesday when they will entertain the Battle Mountain Huskies. Both Glenwood teams are 1-0 in 5A WSL play.

Other recent boys basketball scores:

Saturday: Moffat County 74, Rifle 52

Friday: Roaring Fork 60, North Fork 44 (Roaring Fork improves to 10-4 overall and stays undefeated atop the 3A Western Slope League at 7-0); Grand Valley 59, Meeker 54; Aspen 57, Coal Ridge 43

Tuesday: Glenwood Springs 48, Summit 34

Glenwood Springs hockey scores: Saturday – Kent Denver 4, Glenwood 3; Jan. 24 – Glenwood 8, Palmer 2. The Demons are now 11-2 overall and 6-0 in the 4A Mountain League. They host Steamboat Springs at 5:45 p.m. Monday at the Glenwood Community Center Ice Rink.