When the offense struggled, Durango had to rely on its abilities on the defensive end of the court.
Against a good defensive team in Miyamura of Gallup, New Mexico, the Durango High School boys basketball team couldn’t get easy baskets out of its half-court offense.
So the Demons put extra emphasis on defense to come away with a 38-28 victory in the opening game of the Marv Sanders Boys Basketball Invitational at Farmington High School.
“Our continuity on offense was struggling a bit,” DHS head coach Alan Batiste said. “We have to improve in half-court sets overall. We know we can score the basketball. But it’s about how hard we were making it to score the basketball.”
The Demons (4-0) struggled with turnovers to the tune of 20 giveaways. DHS overcame Window Rock in a game in which it had 30 turnovers last week at Shiprock’s tournament.
Thursday, it was the team defense of the Demons that helped them overcome the Patriots (2-3).
“The defense showed up with hands up on all shots,” Batiste said. “They didn’t shoot well, but a lot of that was because of our defense.”
Batiste was impressed with the play of senior Liam Southwick on the defensive end.
“He gave us a spark the way he rebounded,” Batiste said. “We looked for answers all game, and he gave us some. We couldn’t run away from them, but Liam gave us a spark with rebounds, taking a charge and forcing a five-second call. It gave us some confidence.”
Kyle Kirkpatrick led the Demons with 13 points as the only player in double-figures. Kobe Szura had five points.
Next up for DHS is Piedra Vista, which beat Fabens, Texas, 56-33 on Friday.
Girls Basketball
Girls BasketballA slow start after a long bus ride didn’t help the Demons.
Durango fell 49-38 to No. 9 Pueblo West to open the Pueblo County Lady Hornet Holiday Tournament on Thursday.
DHS (3-1) shot only 2-of-12 from the free-throw line in the first half and trailed 32-16 at halftime.
The Cyclones (2-0) scored 21 points in the first quarter to take control of the game. The Demons struggled with the size of the Cyclones, who boast a 6-foot-4 senior center in Hailey Geier and another strong 5-foot-11 sophomore center Shanae Lontine.
Geier finished with 12 points and caused havoc inside defensively.
“We didn’t do ourselves any favors,” DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. “But we did a better job competing in the second half.”
Stephanie Basye led DHS with 10 points. Katrina Chandler and Taylor Edwards each finished with eight.
Durango will face Harrison at 5 p.m. Friday.
“This was a great game for us to play this early in the season,” Fitzpatrick said. “Let us see where we’re at.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
