Playing for a share of the league title, the Durango Demons quickly realized the title would evade them for a seventh consecutive year.
The Durango High School Demons (12-6, 8-2 Southwestern League) welcomed the Grand Junction Tigers (18-2, 8-0 SWL) into their gym Saturday afternoon, and the Tigers quickly made themselves comfortable. The Tigers, the ninth-ranked Class 5A team according to CHSAANow.com, shot out to a 10-point lead after one quarter and a 27-point halftime advantage before coasting to a 63-47 victory.
“They were ready to play. We were, too, but we just turned the ball over,” DHS head coach Alan Batiste said. “We had 13 turnovers in the first half, and I wouldn’t doubt them having 28 to 30 points off our turnovers.”
Durango’s first-half turnovers matched its point total in the opening half. Grand Junction’s 6-7 junior center DJ Wells disrupted everything the Demons tried to accomplish offensively in the paint, and he was aggressive on the offensive end, too.
Wells finished the game with 21 points and 10 rebounds. He also came up with three steals and a pair of blocked shots.
“We knew we had to take an early lead. This is a tough place to play, and Durango has been in a lot of close games this year and won most of them,” Tigers’ head coach Dutch Johnson said. “DJ has been tough to score on all year defensively, but I was more impressed with how he attacked the basket offensively and how aggressive he was.”
Grand Junction was led by Wells and 6-1 senior guard Broderick Robinson, who scored a game-high 23 points. Robinson was on fire early, connecting on three 3-point attempts in the first quarter. He finished the game 4-of-7 from behind the 3-point line and 4-of-7 from the field.
Amid big Grand Junction scoring runs, the Demons couldn’t take advantage of free throw opportunities. The Demons shot just 17-of-28 from the foul line in the game. They also were just 3-of-8 from 3-point distance and 11-of-27 from the field.
“You are looking for an answer and a savior to have a bucket go in,” Batiste said. “When you get to the free throw line, you have to capitalize. When you score, it kills runs and momentum. Even if we could have had one of the two free throw tries go in, at least you climb a little closer.”
Durango turned the ball over 17 times, and they were outrebounded 25-18.
“We just came out pretty bad in the first half. The second half, I think we won it by seven points,” said DHS senior Isiah Mayberry, who finished with team highs of 11 points and seven rebounds.
“We were pretty hesitant at first going into the paint. In the second half, we started getting confidence.”
The Demons kept their heads up in the second half, but they didn’t get within 20 points of the Tigers until the final minute of the game.
“I told the boys not to look at the score. We just wanted to win the second half, and we did,” Batiste said. “When the game is out of hand, it is easy to get down. But that’s not us. We keep playing hard.”
Grand Junction has two league games left to close the regular season. The Tigers are up two games in the league standings with two games to play, but they own the tiebreaker against Durango thanks to two head-to-head victories. Saturday’s win wrapped up the league title for the Tigers.
“We won’t talk about that until Friday after we beat Fruita. That is a league rivalry game, and we are focused on that,” Johnson said.
Durango has a few days off to prepare for the start of the league tournament Feb. 20.
“This loss is not something to dwell on,” said Mayberry, the son of George and Tonya Mayberry. “We will keep it in the back of our heads to know what kind of ballplayers those guys are, and we know we will see that caliber of team in the playoffs.
“It is a good loss for us, I feel. We hope to come back and make some noise in the playoffs.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
