Despite leading for almost the entire game, the Durango girls basketball team could not hold onto its lead against Centauri, falling 33-31 on Saturday at the Centauri tournament.
The Demons boys basketball team didn’t do any better, as they also lost to Centauri, 66-53, on Saturday.
Both teams beat Ignacio and Olathe during the tournament, and both are now 2-1.
“We had runs in the game where we played really well,” Durango girls coach Lauren Moran said. “But ultimately, we had some long-scoring droughts that make it difficult to win when you're playing a strong team. So I was pretty pleased with our effort on the defensive side of the ball. We had a few lapses but overall, only giving up 33 points to a team like Centauri is pretty much a success, but to only score 31 points, again is going to make it challenging.”
Junior power forward Ellie White led the Demons with 11 points, while junior guards Tyler Trujillo and Mariah Maestas chipped in nine and six points, respectively.
Centauri had a balanced attack with Lacey Johnson, Joselyn McCarrol and Jocelyn Jarvies finishing with eight points each.
“Ellie does a great job of being patient when she receives the ball inside,” Moran said. “She looked to see if she could score, as well as kick the ball back outside if that was needed at that time. For us getting the ball inside even more is a key to success, just to be able to utilize all of our post players and getting them more touches is going to be really important for us to increase the amount of scoring that we're doing.”
Durango got off to a fast start and led 12-4 after the first. Centauri worked its way back into the game shortly after, trailing 16-14. The Demons stretched the lead to 25-20 after three quarters before struggling on the scoring end during the fourth.
Moran says she takes some of the blame for her team’s combination of poor decision-making and turnovers, but that it’s still early in the season for this Durango squad.
The Durango boys basketball team ran into some hot shooting from Centauri. Centauri caught fire from 3-point range in the first half, according to Demons coach Alan Batiste. This put the Demons in a double-digit hole at halftime. Durango later cut the deficit to five points in the second half, but couldn’t come back.
Senior center Jacob Nuebert led the Demons with 14 points, while senior guard Zach Unruh had 13 points. Junior guard Noah Miles had 11 points.
The Demons placed 11th out of 27 teams at the Pueblo Central Girls Invitational to open the 2023-24 campaign, making coach Kyle Hanson proud.
Durango tallied 57 team points.
The Demons’ Hana Maletich finished fourth in the 115-pound division and scored 14 team points. Maletich won her first three matches before falling in the semifinals to Alamosa’s Sarah DeLaCerda.
Durango senior Brooke Fenberg finished second in the 120-pound division and scored 26 team points. Fenberg won her first four matches before falling to Discover Canyon’s Mia Hargrove in the championship match.
The Durango girls wrestling team will return to the mat for the Western Slope Open on Friday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
