The Durango boys basketball team faced off against one of the best teams in Colorado high school basketball on Saturday afternoon and was lacking in power and pace. Demons freshman forward Donovan Whitehead missed Saturday’s game against Fruita Monument after suffering an AC joint sprain in his shoulder on Friday night against Montrose.
Even with Whitehead, Durango would’ve still struggled with Fruita’s transition play, shooting and athleticism which allowed it to dominate the Demons inside Durango High School 63-23.
Durango fell to 8-8 overall and 1-3 in 6A/5A Southwestern League play after the loss. Fruita improved to 18-0 overall and 3-0 in 6A/5A Southwestern League play after the win.
“This is a great team to play to get ready for playoffs for 5A basketball,” Durango head coach Alan Batiste said about Fruita. “They’re ranked No. 3 or No. 4 in the state. This is a great time to embrace the moment and compete at that level. It’s our league and you need to show up for this game. We just have to keep our cohesiveness and our team together.”
Senior center Jacob Neubert led the Demons with eight points. Junior forward Daniel Thomason led the Wildcats with 18 points. Sophomore guard Jhett Wells also had 15 points for Fruita.
“It’s a great matchup for Jacob that he can challenge himself individually and see what his skill level is like versus a kid like that of that caliber,” Batiste said about Neubert facing off against Thomason. “He (Jacob) gets to set the bar for where he wants to be as a player in Colorado.”
Thomason started out the game with a steal and two-handed slam for Fruita. The Demons turned it over again which made Batiste call a timeout down 6-1 with 4:20 left after two fast break baskets.
Jacob Neubert experienced something rare: Someone blocked his shot. Thomason blocked his shot and it led to a 3-pointer by Wells. Batiste called another timeout after a fast break score which put the Wildcats up 15-3 with 2:28 left and Fruita led 18-3 after the first quarter.
Jacob Neubert scored inside with a nice post move to open up the scoring for the Demons. But it didn’t matter much after Wells hit another 3-pointer to put Fruita ahead 24-5 with 6:30 left.
Junior guard Noah Miles provided an old-fashioned 3-point play and junior JT Neubert hit a nice long two-pointer to cut the Demons deficit to 25-10 with 3:30 left in the second quarter.
But the Wildcats responded with four quick points to push the lead to 29-10. Fruita was able to beat Durango down the floor for layups in transition. Fruita led 34-12 at half.
Thomason started off the second half with back-to-back baskets and Wilson Siegumnd hit a 3-pointer in the first 1:30 to put Fruita up 41-12. Senior guard Zach Unruh and Miles responded with back-to-back buckets to stop the bleeding.
Durango went to zone but it didn’t matter. Fruita found Thomason in the middle and he did damage with his midrange game. The Wildcats had more pace and turned the Demons over. Fruita led 56-19 after three quarters.
A running clock was put into effect with the Wildcats up 35 to start the fourth. Both teams but their benches in to get some valuable playing time to finish the game.
Durango is back in action next Friday at Palisade.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
