The Durango boys basketball team had to burn some fuel getting to tournaments this season. First, it was three hours east to Centauri High School and then six hours northeast to Parker for the Ponderosa tournament.
After those road trips, the Demons looked refreshed Thursday with a nice hour drive down to Farmington for the Marv Sanders Invitational Memorial tournament, followed by a 65-57 win over Shiprock.
“We were able to get the touches in the paint,” Demons coach Alan Batiste said. “So we dominated that paint area and then came out for three, I think we still only shot like seven threes.”
Durango’s JT Neubert had 19 points, while Shiprock’s Nevaughn Begay had 16 points.
The Demons led 16-11 after the first quarter and keep that five-point advantage at half with a 32-27 lead. The lead increased to seven points after three quarters before Shiprock made it a one-possession game, cutting Durango’s lead 49-47 in the fourth.
However, the Demons forced some turnovers that sparked a 10-0 run, pushed the lead to 12 and helped secure the win.
Scoring production was harder to come by on Friday night, as the Demons fell to Farmington 63-48.
Farmington shot 59% from the field and 53% from 3-point range, as the Scorpions improved to 6-0.
Durango shot 48% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.
Farmington’s Cody Vassar-Steen and Landon Begay scored 21 and 19 points, respectively.
The Demons had a balanced scoring effort in defeat, as Donovan Whitehead scored 10 points on 3 of 8 shooting from the field and 4 of 7 shooting from the free-throw line, along with seven rebounds. Noah Miles had eight points on 2 of 3 shooting from 3-point range and 2 of 2 shooting from the foul line. Zach Unruh had eight points on 4 of 7 shooting.
“We just really needed to establish the paint,” Batiste said about the Farmington game. “We didn't really get those touches on the inside like we've been doing and they got out in transition. But again, we got out in transition and that was really where our game was. But we still needed to get some stops on the defensive end and there was too many offensive rebounds we gave up tonight.”
Durango (5-3) will play Cañon City on Saturday, starting at 5:30 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
