No. 4 Montrose boys hoops remains unbeaten after win over Durango

MONTROSE – The Montrose boys basketball team’s win streak is still alive.

Fourth ranked Montrose (17-0, 4-0) hosted Durango (7-10, 1-3) in a Southwestern League game on Saturday. After a 66-35 victory, last season’s runner-up walked away still unbeaten in 2021-22.

“I felt we played extremely well on defense tonight,” Montrose head coach Ryan Voehringer said. “We made Durango work extremely hard to get a good shot. Luke Hutto did an excellent job on Anthony Flint, holding him to eight points. Great team win on the defensive side of the ball. Luke led all scorers with 25 points. Fletcher Cheezum had 11. Another solid game from point guard Trey Reese as well with six assists and three steals.”

The first quarter was close early on, but Montrose led 12-5 to start the second. With three minutes left in the second quarter, the Demons cut the lead to 16-12 before Montrose scored six in a row on their way to a 24-17 halftime lead.

Coming out of halftime strong, Montrose outscored the Demons, 20-4, in the first six and a half minutes of the third quarter and led 46-21 after three quarters.

“Defense played well for us in the first half,” Durango coach Alan Batiste said. “They were struggling with our zone a lot. They are a team that doesn’t make mistakes and are very disciplined, so you have to minimize yours as a team. They went on a 20-4 run in the third. They are a state contender, but looking forward to seeing them in a couple of weeks.

“Again, turnovers hurt us in this game.”

Luke Hutto, who averages 15.8 points per game, scored 28 points for Montrose. Fletcher Cheezum had 14 and Ashden Oberg had seven.

“Our defense was great and we locked them down,” Monrtose senior Trey Reese said. “We got out running in the third quarter to push the lead out. We are pretty tough when we run the floor.”

Walter Stauffer led Durango with 13 points.

“I felt we had a great team win,” Hutto said. “A lot of selflessness and great team effort. We came out at halftime with a game plan and executed it to perfection. We got out and ran in the second half and my teammates found me in transition for some easy buckets. My teammates got me the ball at the right time and made my job really easy.”

Montrose will play Fruita Monument on Tuesday. Durango will take on Grand Junction on Friday.