High school playoff basketball is here and both Durango High School basketball teams are back in the 4A state playoffs.
Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) announced the brackets on Sunday. The Durango boys got the No. 20 seed and the girls got the No. 8 seed.
The boys will play at No. 13 Rampart on Friday at 6 p.m. It was a difficult ending to the season for the Durango boys as they lost their final four games and finished the regular season 13-10 overall and 4-6 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League.
“It’s a good matchup,” Durango boys basketball head coach Alan Batiste said about Rampart. “They played a good schedule … it’s a good matchup because if we win the game, we maybe get to go to Montrose. That helped us out tremendously.”
Durango lost its final four games by an average of 18.25 points and scored 35.5 points per game.
Rampart finished its season 14-9 overall and 7-5 in the 6A/5A/4A Colorado Springs Metro League. The Rams won four of their last five games. Rampart averages 61.7 points per game and has four players that average at least 10 points. Junior Theodore Wilson leads the team with 16.1 PPG.
Batiste said the Demons will have to shoot the ball well to keep up with Rampart and not turn the ball over.
The Demons and Rams had three common opponents this year. Both teams beat Grand Junction Central and Canon City, while the Rams beat Cheyenne Mountain and the Demons lost to Cheyenne Mountain.
Whatever team wins this matchup will likely face No. 4 Montrose in the Sweet 16.
The Durango girls’ first-round opponent will be the winner of Wednesday’s No. 25 Greeley Central vs. No. 40 Battle Mountain play-in game.
Durango will host the winner on Saturday at 2 p.m.
“We're really excited,” Durango girls basketball head coach Lauren Moran said. “It's great to have this whole week prepare and continue to work hard while making sure everybody is taking care of their bodies at this point of the long season. These first few days of this week, we're focusing on what we need to do to get better as a team. Then we'll check out who wins the game on Wednesday.”
Durango finished the season 17-6 overall and 6-4 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League. All six of its losses have come by six points or less. The Demons lost two of their last three games, but Moran thinks Durango is playing well heading into the playoffs.
Greeley Central finished the regular season 12-11 overall and 7-9 in the 5A/4A Longs Peak League. Battle Mountain finished the regular season 10-13 overall and 0-6 in the 5A Western Slope League. Battle Mountain lost nine of its last 10 games with its only win coming via forfeit.
If Durango wins its first game, the Demons could host a second home playoff game in the Sweet 16 against Montrose if Montrose wins its first-round playoff game. Montrose beat Durango twice in the regular season; Durango led in the fourth quarter in both games.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
