LOUISVILLE — Four days after the No. 1 team in the state came to Monarch, the Coyotes welcomed the No. 3 team in the state.

Both nights ended badly for the Coyotes.

The Monarch girls lost to No. 3-ranked Rocky Mountain 46-39 on Tuesday night after losing by 30 to No. 1 Highlands Ranch on Thursday. It has been a tough stretch for the Coyotes, who opened the season ranked No. 8 but are 2-2.

"I thought overall we played a good game," Monarch coach Gail Hook said. "But there were a few minutes where we didn't score, and they would score four or six quick points."

The Monarch team that has taken the floor against two of the top three teams in the state likely won't be the same team playing in March. The Coyotes are without starting 6-2 center Gabby Contro, who has committed to play at Lehigh. She has a broken hand and likely won't be back until January. Fellow post Emily McMahon suffered a torn ACL last January and is still trying to get back to full speed.

McMahon did lead the Coyotes with 12 points on Tuesday night, along with Stephanie Louden. She was able to score inside against the Coyotes but her knee is forcing Hook to ration McMahon's minutes during December.

Most teams have the luxury of trying different lineups and allowing players to get comfortable on the court in December. Not the ones in the Front Range League. There are nine teams in the league, which means 16 league games. All those games can't fit into the schedule after the holiday break. So Front Range teams have to play critical league games only a few weeks into the season, like the Coyotes and Lobos did Tuesday night.

"I would like to be able to prepare with some non-conference games, and it is good to play great teams," Hook said. "But you would also like to get a few wins under your belt to get some confidence."

Monarch was only down by three at halftime, 24-21. But the Coyotes went cold for most of the third and couldn't get a bucket. They had good looks but failed to convert several shots inside.

Meanwhile the Lobos (3-0) built a 34-25 lead in the third before Monarch called a time out. Mallory Lynch and Louden scored back-to-back hoops out of the timeout, but Rocky quickly pushed the lead out to 41-31 with 4:09 left in the quarter.

The week doesn't get any easier for the Coyotes. They open the traditionally tough Heritage Hoopla tournament on Thursday against 4-0 Grand Junction Central.

Rocky Mountain 46, Monarch 39 ROCKY MOUNTAIN (46)

Al. Curtis 2 0-0 5, Gleiforst 3 2-2 10, Zarling 3 0-0 7, Ar. Curtis 5 2-3 13, Connolly 2 2-6 6, Johnson 1 3-4 5, Nielsen 0 0-0 0, Schmitz 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 9-15 46.

MONARCH (39)

Louden 3 6-6 12, Nehring 0 1-3 1, Grubich 0 2-2 2, Wood 1 1-2 3, McMahon 6 0-0 12, Pavelich 0 0-0 0, Lynch 3 0-0 6, Zarlengo 0 1-2 1, VanDore 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 11-15 39.

Score by quarters:

Rocky Mountain11 13 10 12 — 46 Monarch8 13 8 10 — 39

3-point field goals — Rocky Mountain (5): Gleiforst 2, Al. Curtis, Zarling, Ar. Curtiz; Monarch (0). Total fouls — Rocky Mountain 15, Monarch 17. Technical fouls — none. Fouled out — none.