There will be a lot of new faces on the floor for the Durango High School girls basketball team this season.
The Demons saw six seniors graduate from last year’s squad and will lean on its modest group of returners to help last season’s crop of underclassmen transition to the varsity game in 2017-18.
“We just need a lot of game experience of playing at the varsity level,” DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. “A lot of them played a lot of junior varsity last year, and I have a couple freshmen who will contribute. ... It’s just gonna be getting them game experience. We’re gonna have to work on not turning the ball over and playing good defense.”
Durango, which went 17-8 last season and reached the Class 4A sweet 16, lost nearly 70 percent of its offensive production with the graduation of Stephanie Basye, Katrina Chandler and Taylor Edwards. The trio also was the team’s top three rebounders.
The Demons will look to this year’s seniors Hilda Garcia, Elise Gilleland and Brett Rowland to take on leadership roles in practice and produce on the court in games.
Garcia is the only proven varsity player of the three seniors. She averaged 9.7 points per game in 13 games for the Demons last season after she transferred from Ignacio. Gilleland saw limited action at the varsity level a year ago, as she swung back and forth from the varsity and junior varsity teams. And Rowland missed last season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
“Brett had the ACL and couldn’t play last year, so I’m excited for her to come out and play some basketball. She had a great volleyball season, so I hope it can carry over to basketball,” Fitzpatrick said. “(Gilleland) kind of was a swinger for us last year and I’m excited to see what she can do for us this year.”
Juniors Lily Chick, Taylor Dossey and Emma Hackett saw considerable playing time on the varsity squad last season and will see an increase in minutes this season, and sophomore guard Emma Fitzgerald possess the speed and quickness Fitzgerald believes can cause problems for opposing defenses. In fact, the entire Durango roster is loaded with quick, athletic players.
“We’re freaking athletic. We’re fast,” Garcia said. “We have a quick pace and I think that is going to be one of our strengths. Our chemistry is slowly coming together and that will be a good thing for the future. And our defense is going to be good. We’re slowly piecing it all together, but as soon as we get it, we’re going to be top dogs.”
With their athleticism, the Demons will look to wear down their opposition with an up-tempo style of play that applies constant on-ball pressure to opposing teams.
“I think we’re all really excited,” Rowland said. “The years past, we’ve always been a sound basketball team and we were the team you’d expect to come out and play. The coaches told us this year we’re going to be pressing all 32 minutes, going all out. That’s the team that we are and I love playing basketball that way.”
The Demons will be tested by a brutal schedule during the first half of the season, in which 13 of their first 14 games will be on the road. Their first home game will be Dec. 19 when they host Pagosa Springs, and the team won’t be back home until Jan. 26 when they host Grand Junction.
“Durango kids are used to traveling a lot, but it’s a little excessive what we have to do,” Fitzpatrick said. “Sometimes it’s nice to play on the road and play away from home, but it would be nice to have a few more home games. But come January when league starts, (the road games) will help us see what we’re made of.”
Durango’s league – 5A/4A Southwestern League – will be highlighted once again by Fruita Monument. The Wildcats won the league last season and went 22-3 overall, and lost only two players to graduation, while the rest of the league’s teams will be tasked with replacing key players lost from last season.
Leading the Wildcats this season will be Angelique Gall and Riley Snyder, who were the team’s top two scorers and rebounders a year ago. Fruita also boasts four players listed at 6-foot or taller, and their size and experience will be two of their greatest assets in their quest for another league title, while Durango, Grand Junction, Grand Junction Central and Montrose try to chase down the Wildcats.
“I think we can really keep up with those teams that are quick because that’s who we are as a team. It’s gonna be the teams with more basketball players and sound in their game,” Rowland said, “but we’ll be ready for those teams when they come along.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
