The Durango girls basketball team beat Grand Junction on the road on Friday before falling at Fruita Monument on Saturday to end its regular season. The boys lost games against both of those opponents and ended the regular season on a four-game losing streak.
On Friday, the girls beat Grand Junction 47-28. Senior forward Ellie White and junior guard Claire Goodwin finished with nine points each. Seniors Tyler Trujillo and Lilly Fitzpatrick each had seven points for the Demons.
“We played pretty well, both offensively and defensively,” Durango girls basketball head coach Lauren Moran said. “We got everybody in the game in the second half and rested some of the starters a little bit.”
Grand Junction got out to an 8-6 lead after the first quarter, but the Demons responded in the second to take a 20-13 lead into halftime.
Durango extended its lead to 37-18 after three quarters. The margin could’ve been larger but the Demons shot 11-30 from the free-throw line.
On Saturday, Durango lost to Fruita Monument 45-39; it was the largest loss of the season for the Demons.
Goodwin finished with 15 points on 6-12 shooting from the field, 2-5 from 3-point range and 1-2 from the free-throw line. White had nine points on 4-9 shooting from the field and 1-2 from the free-throw line; Fitzpatrick added nine points on 3-5 shooting from the field and 3-4 from the free-throw line.
“We played a pretty solid game and we were pleased with the effort,” Moran said. “Even despite the loss, I feel like we do have positive momentum going into the playoffs.”
The two teams played another low-scoring first quarter and Fruita led 7-4. The Wildcats extended that lead with a great second quarter and led 22-12 at half.
But the Demons had a response in the third. Durango started hitting shots and played good man-to-man defense to take a 29-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Fruita’s Olivia Campbell took over the game. The senior guard, committed to play at Colorado School of Mines, scored 12 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter to guide the Wildcats to victory.
“She's super poised, calm and confident,” Moran said about Campbell.
Durango finished the regular season 17-6 overall and 6-4 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League.
The Durango boys basketball team’s scoring struggles continued on the road. The Demons lost at Grand Junction on Friday 61-39 and at Fruita on Saturday 57-22. Durango averaged 25.7 points in its last three regular season games.
“We're getting whatever possession we want and things out of the possession,” Durango boys basketball head coach Alan Batiste said about his offense against Fruita. “We're shooting a little bit more threes than we would like to, but we're still shooting open shots. I can't be mad at the boys at that; we're just in a funk. We're not making shots right now … then in the second half, we didn't come out with a lot of energy and they capitalized off four turnovers.”
No individual stats were available from the Grand Junction game. Against Fruita, senior guard Noah Miles led the Demons with eight points; senior forward Otto Aaland added six.
The Demons trailed 15-6 after the first quarter and 27-9 at halftime. Fruita extended its lead to 54-11 after three quarters.
Durango finished the regular season 13-10 overall and 4-6 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League.
Both Durango teams will find out their playoff seeds on Sunday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
