Glenwood Springs’ push for a girls basketball state championship came to an end in the semifinals on Thursday night, falling to No. 4 Windsor 65-35 at the Denver Coliseum.
It ends a dream season for the Demons, who were chasing their first girls basketball state title, according to the Colorado High School Activities Association. In the fourth straight year of winning their league title, they finally broke through and advanced out of the Sweet 16 for the first time, ousting the bracket’s No. 1 seed, George Washington in the Great 8. As the No. 8 seed, they won home games over No. 25 Golden and No. 9 Green Mountain before the playoffs moved to Denver.
The Demons went 19-7 in the regular season, sweeping through their six league games to clinch their fourth consecutive league title. Coming into Thursday’s semifinal match, they had won five games in a row and 12 of their previous 14.
Against Windsor, things started well enough in the first minute with senior Joclyn Spires opening the scoring on a wide open three-pointer. Fellow senior Ruby Patch hit another three shortly after, giving the Demons a 6-4 lead.
The Wizards quickly began to pull away as Glenwood got into foul trouble, struggling to compete against size. According to the NFHS Network broadcast, the Demons finished the first quarter losing the rebound race 12-2 and with seven fouls. Windsor led by 10 points by the end of the first quarter, 22-12.
Windsor capitalized on those opportunities by going an unofficial 6-for-7 on free throws and 10-for-11 in the first half, extending the lead to 13 by halftime, 35-22.
Spires, the team’s leading scorer and defensive thief in the regular season, led both teams in the first half with eight points but also committed three fouls, which sent her on the bench. She committed a fourth in the third quarter, putting her within one of fouling out of the game.
Windsor put the final nail in the coffin in the third quarter, holding Glenwood to just two points, a second-chance opportunity from Mattea Enewold, while scoring 14 of their own. They had more than doubled up the Demons, 24-49.
Senior Tori Taylor put together six points in the fourth quarter to try to will Glenwood back into the game, but the Wizards were not to be denied. They continued to clog up the entire court on defense. Spires recorded her 10th point of the game late in the fourth quarter before getting rattled on hard contact driving the paint, leaving her slow to get up.
After her free throw attempt, she exited the game for a short period before returning, drawing another foul driving the paint and sinking a pair of free throws before exiting the court for the final time in her Glenwood career before the seniors returned to the court for the final play.
Windsor returns to the state championship game after falling to Mullen last year. They’re seeking a second girls state championship.
For Glenwood Springs, the loss marks the end of the prep careers for five seniors: Patch, Enewold, Spires, Taylor and Breauna Sorenson. The group saw great success, with the Demons losing only two league matches since their freshman year.
The Demons were the final remaining local basketball team in the playoff picture on both the boys and girls sides.