Sweet arena.

"It's bittersweet," said Kaela Maynes, one of three seniors to play her final girls basketball game for Durango High School on Thursday at the World Arena in Colorado Springs.

"We were fatigued. We weren't ready for it. The coaches told us we had a good shot at it, and we believed we had a really good shot at it. But I think we might have come into this game a little too confident," she said.

ThunderRidge might be two seasons removed from the back end of its championship three-peat in the Class 5A State Tournament, but the Grizzlies showcased their championship pedigree with four double-digit scorers - three of them non-seniors - in a 27-point victory in the Sweet 16 of the 5A playoffs.

"I'm proud of these girls," Demons coach Mary Psenda said. "They made a good run - 16-8, the Sweet 16 twice in three years.

"It's OK to get beat by a better team. We got beat by a better team."

ThunderRidge, the No. 2 seed in the Kaye Garms region, defeated Durango, the No. 6-seed, 69-42 at the World Arena, home of the Colorado College Tigers' ice hockey team.

At first blush, it appeared maybe Colorado High School Athletic Association officials forgot to replace the ice with hardwood.

Either way, the Demons were on thin ice early. Before they could discover their offense, ThunderRidge had already found lightning from behind the 3-point line.

"I don't feel like we reached our offense until the third quarter," Psenda said.

ThunderRidge junior Rachel Messner raced the opening tip to the north basket for a layup and a quick 2-0 lead.

Durango junior Katerina Garcia then dribbled the length of the floor in transition, penetrated the lane, faked a pass, and her defense, toward Jami Cagle on the post, then answered with a layup and a 2-2 tie.

The ball again hurried across the timeline, and the Grizzlies' D'Ambra Evans attempted a quick 3-point shot in transition. Her shot was long, but freshman point guard Carlie Needles grabbed the weak-side rebound and scored the putback for a 4-2 lead.

Durango never led, and its 2-2 tie was the closest the Demons would come to a lead.

"It seemed like we had three or four turnovers before we ever scored," Psenda said. "We had a couple of rushed shots early.

"This is the Sweet 16, and when you reach the Sweet 16 every possession counts. Every possession counts offensively, and every possession counts defensively, especially when it's a 6 playing a 2. We just rushed a little too much."

The game continued at a breakneck pace. Smaller in size (radio announcer Don Piccoli joked during a timeout that "even the ThunderRidge cheerleaders are taller than Durango") but not intensity, the difference was Durango missed its shots while ThunderRidge did not.

Grizzlies sophomore Brooke Jelniker scored in the paint for a 6-2 lead, then Messer scored from the perimeter for a 9-2 lead.

Garcia answered with a back-door look to senior Rhea Haidaris for a layup and a 9-4 game.

Needles, however, had a louder response: another 3-pointer from the wing and a 12-4 game.

ThunderRidge led 22-6 after the first quarter and 33-16 at halftime.

"We were just trying to take it in by ourselves," Maynes said of the Demons' inept offense. "We weren't playing for the team."

ThunderRidge added two more 3s in the third quarter and led 52-28 after 24 minutes.

"For our younger girls, hopefully this is a motivating factor for them to get back and do everything they can to get a different outcome," said Psenda, who played all 12 girls on the roster in Thursday's playoff game.

"For our seniors, hopefully there are no regrets. They made the most of it."

Cagle, the Demons' third senior, fouled out of the game with four points, a 3-pointer, and a team-high seven rebounds with 1:44 to play in regulation.

As sophomore Neely Surmeier checked in, Cagle pleaded hopelessly: "Just leave me in the game."

Maynes finished with five points, and Haidaris' first-quarter layup produced her only points of the game.

Garcia scored a game-high 19 points. She added seven assists and six rebounds in a game-high 31 minutes.

Needles led the Grizzlies with 18 points, and Jelniker finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Evans, one of three ThunderRidge seniors, and Messner each finished with 10 points.

"These kids have done everything we've asked them to do this season - everything we've asked," Psenda said. "How many people thought we could get to the Sweet 16? This team took huge steps this season, and they should be proud of themselves."

Maynes walked out of the Demons' locker room and back into the arena while the second - No. 1 Chaparral vs. No. 5 Columbine of the Alice Barron region - of four games Thursday was being played at the 8,000-plus capacity facility.

The action was being broadcast live on the Jumbotron high above the hardwood.

"It's really cool," Maynes forced a smile on her surroundings. "This was a good way to end the season for sure."

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