For the second consecutive day, the Durango High School boys basketball team lost a tough one at the Marv Sanders Invitational in Farmington.
Coming off Friday’s heartbreaker in which the Demons lost to Farmington (4-1) after holding a double-digit lead at halftime, Durango staged an impressive comeback of its own against New Mexico Class 6A Las Cruces. Trailing by 12 in the second half, DHS rallied. The Demons had a chance to tie or win on the last possession trailing by two but couldn’t get a clean look at the basket and ended up on the losing end of a 46-44 result.
Terrence Trujillo was a perfect 4-for-4 from long range and led the Demons with 17 points. Orion Clay posted another solid line with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.
“We started out a little bit slow, but that’s expected after two tough games in the last two days,” said DHS head coach Alan Batiste. “It was good to see the team able to turn up the intensity when we needed to and come back.”
Durango (3-3) trailed by seven at halftime but found a spark in the second half behind Trujillo’s hot shooting and an aggressive zone defense. The pressure forced some turnovers by Las Cruces (3-4), and poor shot selection resulted in long rebounds. The long rebounds turned into fast-break points and open looks for the Demons, who came all the way back to take a brief fourth-quarter lead.
“We went to our zone defense and it paid off for us,” Batiste said. “Terrence (Trujillo) hit some big 3s, and we got some easy baskets to get us right back in it.”
On the last possession, Batiste drew up an isolation play for Trujillo that was snuffed out by tough Las Cruces defense. The senior point guard tried to get to the basket on the baseline but was denied. As time ticked away, the Demons lost control of the ball and never got a shot up.
All in all, it was a mixed bag of results for Durango in an early season tournament in which there was no shortage of talent.
On Thursday, the Demons overcame an early deficit in knocking off the defending tournament champions and fifth-ranked team in New Mexico’s Class 6A, Cleveland High School.
Friday’s tough 47-44 loss to Farmington cost the Demons a chance to play for the tournament championship. It was a bitter pill to swallow after leading by 15 points, but the experience playing in close games down the stretch against high quality competition is valuable early in the season regardless of the result.
“We saw a bit of everything over the last few days,” Batiste said. “We had a big win, a loss in which we lost our poise and a slow start that turned into a big comeback. Those are the types of experiences that will get us ready for league play and tournament time.”
Durango will get another crack at Farmington at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Durango High School.
jfries@durangoherald.com
