The Durango High School girls and basketball teams were both close to taking the lead against Montrose in the second half, but couldn’t get over the hump for an upset win, losing by double-digits on Friday.
Up first was the Demons girls, who tied the undefeated Red Hawks in the third quarter, but couldn’t keep up in the fourth as Montrose pulled away for a 47-26 home win.
“We competed hard, but it is disappointing to be tied in the third quarter and then to lose by 20,” Durango girls basketball head coach Lauren Moran said. “I'm glad that we were in that position … I wish that we could have kept it going a little bit longer.”
Durango’s loss dropped it to 11-11 overall and 4-6 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League to finish the regular season. Senior guard Claire Goodwin led the Demons with 14 points on 4-13 shooting from the field, 2-7 from 3-point range and 4-6 from the free-throw line.
Montrose finished the regular season 23-0 overall and 10-0 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League with the win. Freshman Landree Johnson led the Red Hawks with 14 points on 5-6 shooting from the field, 1-2 from 3-point range and 3-6 from the free-throw line.
The Demons had a slow start, and they trailed 11-4 after the first quarter. Moran said her team had some defensive lapses like communicating on screens in the beginning of the game, which led to the deficit.
However, the Demons got the offense going a little more in the second quarter, and they trailed 17-12 at the half. Goodwin got going in the second quarter, scoring seven of the team’s eight points. Moran said she got into the paint and drew some fouls. On the other hand, Goodwin also struggled with foul trouble throughout the game, making her playing time sporadic.
Durango had a great start to the third quarter to tie the game at 19. Then Montrose responded by finishing the quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 30-21 lead into the fourth.
“We came out really strong after halftime, and we got stops,” Moran said. “We're able to compete for a while. Ultimately, they got hot from three, which is not surprising. They're a really good team, they're really balanced, and they have a lot of people who can score. For a while, they were missing most of their shots, and Ryne (Neiman) and Aysia (Mathews) particularly, both did a great job on the defensive boards.”
Montrose hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to pull away for the easy victory. Goodwin fouled out in the fourth, and junior guard Jaelyn Alston was under the weather leading up to the gym, which might’ve hindered her shot-making, Moran said.
Next up for the Demons is the 5A state playoffs. Durango will be on the road, likely facing a team ranked between 10-13 in the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index. The brackets should come out on Sunday.
Moran told her team that they competed for 2.5 quarters with Montrose. The Demons will play a team that doesn’t have as many wins as the Red Hawks, so the Demons should feel like they can compete for a win in the first round.
Durango boys basketball finishes season with loss
A challenging season for the Durango boys basketball program is over after the Demons’ 46-33 loss at Montrose on Friday.
Durango cut Montrose’s lead to two in the third quarter, but the Red Hawks pulled away in the fourth, delivering Durango its 11th-consecutive loss.
“The boys played extremely hard, and they did really well,” Durango boys basketball head coach Alan Batiste said. “We had a couple of defensive mishaps. Overall, we were hitting from the outside, but we gave up some shots from the outside as well … We rebounded better and shot the ball better, but again, we still needed to execute a little bit more on certain possessions.”
Durango finished its season 4-17 overall and 0-10 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League after the loss. Montrose improved to 13-10 overall and 4-6 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League. No individual stats were available.
The Demons should return their entire roster next season, led by a promising back court in Taj Batiste and King Kerlin.
“My message to the boys has been, ‘Get us now,’ because they’re going to be great,” Batiste said. “They're going to be good to go moving forward. This was a year of growth, maturity and trying to learn the game individually and as a team.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
