The Durango High School girls basketball team reached another championship game at the Lady Hornet Holiday Tournament hosted by Pueblo County. Once they got there, the Demons had plenty of fun.
After beating Vista Ridge in a tight 42-40 game early Saturday, the Demons took on Air Academy (3-3) in the tournament championship. The Demons held the Kadets to only five points in the first half and none in the second quarter en route to a 32-22 victory.
It is the second consecutive year Durango (4-0) has won the tournament.
“It was good competition all week, and it felt good to see the kids win it again after playing the way they did,” DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. “They worked extremely hard and were in a position to win the tournament, and they went out and had fun in the championship game.”
Katrina Chandler, a DHS junior, was named the tournament’s MVP. She finished with 15 points in the championship game and 11 against Vista Ridge. Those were both team highs.
“She was the best player at the tournament, no question,” Fitzpatrick said.
Taylor Edwards also made the all-tournament team. She had six points in the title game and seven against Vista Ridge.
The Demons used clutch free-throw shooting and strong defense to hold off Vista Ridge on Saturday morning.
Riley Hall made her first varsity start and scored seven points against Vista Ridge. Danica Dudley scored eight points, and Stephanie Bayse added seven. Fitzpatrick felt Bayse’s performance all week was deserving of all-tournament team consideration, too.
Having to play two games in one day and four games in three days on the road, Fitzpatrick used a deep bench Saturday. He was thrilled with the efforts of Jordan Baker, Sienna Johnson and Jessica Lee off the bench.
“We definitely have some new pieces and kids filling new roles this year, so to win two years in a row is exciting,” Fitzpatrick said.
Durango’s zone defense against Air Academy made all the difference in the first half when the Kadets scored only five points. Fitzpatrick said his team had practiced it a little bit and decided to use it, and Air Academy didn’t know how to respond.
“The team defense was very good all week, and we had balanced scoring,” he said.
DHS will hit the road again Tuesday to take on Farmington High School.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
