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Bring out the pitchforks

DHS boys overtake league lead with 2-0 weekend

The Demons rained fire and brimstone on Grand Junction Central from the beginning of Saturday’s boys basketball game.

Durango High School scored the first nine points of a 60-41 win and didn’t let the Warriors any closer over the rest of the game.

“Durango came out and was executing really well and got what they wanted on offense,” Central head coach Ryan Hayden said. “We were just being very unfundamental.”

DHS senior Caleb Kennedy provided the brimstone from the beginning. He received the ball in the post, took one dribble in the lane and laid the ball in. He repeated that process three more times in the first quarter, and a fourth attempt resulted in a pair of free throws.

“In warmups I saw they weren’t necessarily the biggest,” said Kennedy, son of Morgan Kennedy and Dean Roderick. “I decided that if I had a smaller guy on me, I’d go straight to the post.”

He finished with 10 points in the first quarter and 12 for the game.

Central (5-10, 1-1 Southwestern League) had no choice but to collapse its defense. Then the kickouts started, and Lucas Baken caught fire. He made three consecutive three pointers in the second quarter, including converting a four-point-play on the last one.

“My shot felt really good in the first half. It was because we were getting post touches and they were kicking out,” said Baken, son of Dante and Jessica Baken. “Once I hit like two in a row, coach gave me the green light to keep going.”

Baken scored a game-high-tying 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.

DHS (7-6, 2-0 SWL) also locked down on defense early. The Demons didn’t allow a field goal in the first 4 minutes, 40 seconds of the game and held the Warriors to 12-of-36 shooting from the field.

“The intensity was still up from (Friday night), and it carried over,” DHS head coach Alan Batiste said.

The total team effort gave DHS its first 20-point lead at the half all season at 38-15.

Being new territory, the Demons needed a moment in the second half to recompose. Central pulled off a 10-2 run to get the deficit down to 15 before DHS adjusted.

“I knew that we were going to hit that little wall, and the boys would struggle a little bit,” Batiste said. “But, at the same time, if we just kept that intensity, we were going to be good.”

DHS won its third consecutive game and claimed early sole possession of first place in the SWL.

The Demons will host Montezuma-Cortez at 7 p.m. Tuesday, looking to further entrench themselves atop the standings.

“If we play like we have the past two games, it shows we can win league,” Kennedy said. “If we play really well, no one can really hang with us.”

kgrabowski@durangoherald.com

Jan 24, 2015
Two runs win the day for DHS girls


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