No. 6 Montrose girls basketball punches ticket to 4A Sweet 16

Christina Martin/ Montrose Daily Press

MONTROSE — Josie Eccher had 10 points to help lead No. 6 Montrose girls basketball to a win over No. 27 Battle Mountain in the second round of the Class 4A tournament.

“We played hard for 32 minutes and made enough plays at the end to get the win,” Montrose coach Steve Skiff said. “I thought our defense was solid all night and got some important stops down the stretch. We are happy to move on in the playoffs and look forward to another challenge on Tuesday.”

Montrose will host No. 11 Ponderosa next week in the Sweet 16.

Montrose jumped out to an 8-5 lead after the first quarter, and went ahead 18-12 at halftime.

They continued to lead 25-20 after the third quarter, and then pulled away in the fourth. Brenna Moss made six free throws in a row. She finished with nine points.

“It was all-together game,” Montrose senior Michaela Ladage said. “We struggled offensively, but our defense showed up tonight and we all guarded our man one on one super well tonight. It was a great for us all together.”

Caroline Burwell added eight points for Montrose.

Claire Kruger led Battle Mountain with 11.