Durango High School found itself on the wrong end of a back-and-forth game Friday night.

The Demons (7-8, 3-3 Southwestern League) dropped a heartbreaker, 45-43 at Grand Junction Central, as Lorenzo Archuleta hit two free throws to send the Warriors (7-12, 3-3 SWL) past the Demons late. It was the third consecutive loss for DHS.

“We didn’t close out the game the last minute and a half,” DHS head coach Alan Batiste said. “We missed a couple of free throws and didn’t capitalize on opportunities.”

Julio Galindo was big for the Warriors all night. He hustled down a loose ball with 2 minutes, 11 seconds to play and found Archuleta for an open shot that tied the game at 42.

With 23 seconds to go, Archuleta hit a pair of free throws to put his team up 44-43. Durango missed free throws on the other end of the floor, but Joe Logan soared in the air for a big offensive rebound. He dished it outside, but the Demons couldn’t knock down a 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds to play, and the Warriors added one free throw to ice the game.

“Joe Logan had an amazing game. The stats don’t show it, but the heart he showed on the floor was excellent,” Batiste said.

DHS led 12-10 after one quarter and 21-20 at halftime. Kyle Blair drained a 3-pointer out of the break to put the Warriors up 23-21, and it was a back-and-forth game from there.

“They hit some 3s, and we had some breakdowns on defense with missed assignments,” Batiste said. “Still, we had a chance to win the game and didn’t put it away. We have to capitalize.”

DHS will turn around and play at Grand Junction at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The Demons upset the Tigers at home 69-55 on Jan. 23. DHS also had previously beaten the Warriors 60-41 on Jan. 24.

“It doesn’t get any easier. Junction is tough and is going to come ready to play,” Batiste said. “We have to move on to the next play, the next day.”

heraldsports@durangoherald.com