The second-to-last team to reach the state tournament, the Durango High School Demons are moving on to the second round.
No. 47 Durango High School boys basketball stunned the No. 18 Skyline Falcons 54-48 on Wednesday night in Longmont. It was the first-round of the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A boys basketball state tournament.
The Demons (10-13) hit nine 3-pointers in the game, including seven in the first half. Durango’s first five baskets were all 3s, and the Demons raced out to a 15-5 lead and led 19-12 after one quarter.
“We were making it rain. It was what I was waiting for us to finally do,” DHS head coach Alan Batiste said. “Thank goodness the basketball gods were looking out for us tonight.
“They were shocked when we came out and hit all those 3s. It shut the crowd up quick. They would go on a 6-0 run and bring the crowd back into it, and it was definitely a hostile environment. You can tell they are passionate about basketball. But we’re a better team outside of home.”
Anthony Flint, Cullen Robinette and Clay Seibel each hit three 3-point shots in the game. Robinette led the Demons with 17 points. Seibel added 11 and Flint finished with nine. Al Hurworth scored eight points.
“Those early 3s set the tone,” Batiste said. “We got whatever we wanted in the first half when we were patient on the offensive end. They were gambling a lot and getting steals that kept them in the game. Once we got the ball past half court, we executed well.”
DHS took a 29-16 lead into the locker room at halftime and was up 35-28 going to the fourth quarter. The Falcons (15-9) cut the Demon lead to 39-35 with 4:44 to play, but the Demons stretched it back to 10 points with three minutes to go and finished the game at the foul line with an 11-of-14 free-throw shooting performance.
Austin Robinson scored a game-high 22 points for Skyline, and Gage Robertson added 11 points. Skyline outscored Durango 12-6 in the third quarter and 20-19 in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough.
Durango entered the game on a five-game losing streak and went only 1-7 in the 5A/4A Southwestern League. The team had only won two if its previous 11 games. Batiste wanted a chance to play in the state tournament and knew his team was capable of a big win if given the opportunity. The Demons made the most of their chance.
“We haven’t seen success since the Mitchell tournament in Colorado Springs when we went 3-0,” Batiste said. “We underachieved in league. We lost two games to Grand Junction that really hurt us. But the playoffs are about executing, and we finally did that tonight.”
Now, DHS will play No. 15 Pueblo Central (14-9) in the second round at 1 p.m. Saturday in Pueblo. The Wildcats had a first-round bye along with the other top-16 teams in the bracket. Pueblo Central is led by seniors Nico Martin and Ben Beltran, who average 16.1 and 11.6 points per game, respectively.
With heavy snow in the forecast for Durango the next two days, the Demons will stay on the Front Range and won’t return home before that game.
“Our job right now is keeping the boys buss. We haven’t had to do this for seven years,” Batiste said. “They are missing a lot of school. We will have two-hour study halls. We will get the boys up early and keep them busy and do a shoot-around every day before lunch and study lots of film. Right now, this is a job we are on.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
