Basketball Game Preview: Durango Demons vs. Montrose Red Hawks

The Durango Demons will face off against the Montrose Red Hawks at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Durango will be strutting in after a victory while Montrose will be coming in after a loss.

Montrose will be up against a hot Durango team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. Durango walked away with a 36-28 win over Palisade on Saturday. Given the Demons' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 33rd, while the Bulldogs are ranked 97th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Claire Goodwin

Steals

02/08/25 @ Palisade	3
02/07/25 @ Grand Junction Central	2
02/01/25 vs Grand Junction	6

Durango's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Claire Goodwin, who posted 14 points and three steals. Goodwin has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Mariah Maestas, who earned seven points in addition to six boards and five assists.

Meanwhile, Montrose didn't have quite enough to beat Palisade on Friday and fell 39-37.

Durango will have to keep a close watch on Maggie Legg and Mayce Oberg, a pair of players who had a big impact on Montrose's prior game. Legg went 7 for 13 to rack up 19 points and three steals, while Oberg put up 13 points. That was a full 35.1% of Montrose's points, marking the third time in a row she's had more than a third of the team's points.

Durango's victory bumped their record up to 16-4. As for Montrose, their defeat ended a seven-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 17-3.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Durango has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 28.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Montrose struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Durango came up short against Montrose when the teams last played back in January, falling 43-38. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Oberg, who went 10 of 16 en route to 23 points. Now that Durango knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.