A new era will soon begin for Durango Demons girls basketball.
Star guard Mason Rowland has graduated after a stellar career as a Demon. Rowland was First-Team All-State as a senior. She averaged 17.9 points per game, led Durango to a 23-3 record and a Class 5A state semifinals appearance. Rowland also made Second Team All-State her junior year and was an honorable mention her freshman and sophomore years.
A new coach will be roaming the sidelines for the Demons as well. After coaching two seasons at Bayfield, Lauren Moran will take over for assistant athletic director Tim Fitzpatrick, who retired from coaching basketball after nine years, compiling a 131-81 record.
“Last year's team had a lot of talent,” Moran said. “I wasn't involved with them. But from what I saw, and as everybody knows, Mason was incredibly talented. And from what I've learned, also just a great leader, and I think in addition to her, they had several other seniors that played really, really big roles. And so I think that the biggest shift this year is that we do have eight returning varsity players, but every single person, including myself, is in a new role.”
One of those seniors who played an important role was Halle Peterson, the team’s second-leading scorer with eight points a game.
This year’s team will have two seniors, Adde and Carter Neiman. Carter averaged 2.9 points per game, while Adde averaged 1.2 points a game. Moran said both have been good leaders so far in practice.
Six juniors return with varsity experience, and Durango will rely on them as well, according to Moran. Katelynn Sheppard was the team’s third-leading scorer last year with 5.2 points per game.
“I think our strength is going to be our versatility,” Moran said. “We're not very big. Our post players aren't really that much bigger than our guards. But the good thing with that is that really all of our players can play pretty much every single position on the court. We trust our posts to handle the ball. And we trust our guards to be able to defend inside also. Our speed, athleticism, versatility and work ethic are going to be our strengths.”
Moran also said she hopes to push the pace on offense.
After a tough schedule playing in summer camps at Fort Lewis College and in Denver, Moran thinks her squad will also be ready for a tough conference schedule.
Moran also said she is very appreciative of assistant coaches Viki Thyfault and Danica Roberts.
Thyfault has been a local coach for over 30 years, and she and Roberts have great relationships with the girls already, as well as a knowledge of Durango’s opponents, according to Moran.
The Demons begin their season with the Centauri Tournament on Thursday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
