On Thursday, Jan. 13, the Summit High School girls basketball team was looking for redemption after getting beat by Glenwood Springs on Tuesday, Jan. 11.

Coach Kayle Walker Burns said the 51-24 loss to Glenwood was an off night for the team and that the Tigers would need to step up their game if they wanted to beat the Eagle Valley Devils on Thursday.

“It depends on if we bring the intensity or not,” Walker Burns said after the loss to Glenwood. “If we bring our A game, I think it is a winnable game.”

The Tigers must have gotten the message. In the first quarter, the team was aggressive and played with high energy. The Tigers also employed a press, which seemed to frustrate the Devils.

By the end of the first quarter, the Tigers led 19-14.

In the second quarter, however, Eagle Valley started to match Summit’s pace as it mounted a comeback. The Tigers were held to 10 points in the second while the Devils scored 12 to trail 29-26 at halftime.

The Devils continued to score in the second half with some quick baskets right out of the intermission. Summit responded with Autumn Rivera scoring midrange jumpers and layups in large part due to Paola Arredondo orchestrating some beautiful plays from the point guard position.

At the end of the third quarter, the Tigers continued to maintain their lead 38-32.

In the fourth quarter, the game became more interesting for the Tigers as the Devils found ways to force turnovers and draw fouls to score points from the charity stripe.

Before long, the Devils had pulled within four points with less than a minute to go, and it looked like the Tigers were going to lose in a close-fought battle.

Eagle Valley made it a 1-point game when Lauren Hauseman sank a wide open three to make it 46-45 with 18 seconds left.

Rivera pushed the ball down the court in order to try to run the clock out, but the Devils stripped the ball from her grasp, and then the Tigers ended up unintentionally fouling the Devils in a scrum, sending Hauseman to the free-throw line with close to six seconds left.

Hauseman missed her first free throw but made the second, tying the game at 46. But Summit was prepared and immediately inbounded the ball, not letting Eagle Valley get set up. Summit’s Callie Smith ran with the ball with urgency down the court to find Kelley Duffy, who was standing wide open behind the three-point line.

Duffy took the shot at the buzzer, and the ball touched nothing but net as the Tigers celebrated their 49-46 win while the Devils stood shocked.

The Tigers are now 4-6 on the season and 1-1 in league play as they prepare to take on Battle Mountain at home Friday, Jan. 14.