The Durango girls and boys basketball teams continue to increase their chances of hosting multiple home playoff games. Both Durango basketball teams took care of Grand Junction Central on the road on Friday night.
First on Friday night was the girls’ game; the Demons dominated the first three quarters en route to a 57-29 win. After the boys won 74-68.
“We had a really well rounded and consistent performance,” Durango girls basketball head coach Lauren Moran said. “We were really patient on offense and took high percentage shots... we were able to move the ball around and then hit some open threes. Then we were also pretty strong defensively. We pressed and also did a half court trap in the first half to turn them over. So it was nice.”
The Demons improved to 15-4 overall and 4-2 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League after the win. Junior guard Claire Goodwin led the Demons with 17 points. Senior guard Tyler Trujillo added 12 points.
Grand Junction Central fell to 5-14 overall and 0-7 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League. Senior Sophie Litzen led the Warriors with nine points.
Durango started strong and got a 19-7 lead after the first quarter with seven Demons scoring.
“We knew they played a lot of 2-3 zone; at times we have struggled against the 2-3 and we emphasized trying to be patient; not living and dying by the three,” Moran said. “Doing that, we were able to get it inside and get some nice looks inside and then eventually we're also able to kick it out and start hitting some threes.”
The Demons scored well in the second quarter and led 34-13 at half. Moran said another offensive key for Durango was a high-low offensive look from the high post to under the basket.
Seniors Ellie White, Lilly Fitzpatrick and junior Ryne Neiman executed it very well, according to Moran. Fitzpatrick played at the high post and either Neiman or White was underneath the basket. Sometimes, White was at the high post and Neiman was underneath. Moran said White and Fitzpatrick did a good job passing from the high post into the player around the basket.
Durango continued to stretch its lead in the third and led 52-20 headed into the fourth. Moran got all of her players into the game in the fourth which was helpful for the younger players’ experience and for the starters to get some rest.
The Demons play on Saturday at noon against Palisade. Moran expects a tough game after Palisade gave Durango a lot of defensive looks in Durango’s 43-29 win over Palisade on Jan. 17.
After the Durango girls were victorious, the boys played in one of their highest scoring games of the season and came out on top 74-68 over GJC.
“Credit to them (GJC); they’ve got 10 players in their whole program, but those kids still play hard and they've always been scrappy since I've been here coaching,” Durango boys basketball head coach Alan Batiste said. “So you're always going to get their best effort. But they really had their best effort tonight and hit 12 threes and a lot of contested threes. They just didn't shoot that well against us at our house, but that kept them in the game.”
Durango improved to 13-6 overall and 4-2 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League. Senior forward Marcus Cullum led the Demons with 24 points. Senior guard Noah Miles had 20 points and junior Brady Hoerl had 17 points for Durango.
Batiste was happy to see Hoerl get into his offensive bag and produce for the Demons. He said Hoerl has been a utility player who can do so many things like Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors. Hoerl ran the floor well and got a lot of good looks in transition.
Grand Junction Central fell to 3-17 overall and 0-6 in the 6A/5A Southwestern League with the loss.
The Demons had one of their better quarters to start the game that Batiste has seen in his tenure as coach. Durango led 29-22 after the first. Batiste said his son, freshman guard Taj Batiste, had an emphasis to push the ball. The Demons also got downhill and got to the basket.
Durango led 46-39 at half. Batiste credited GJC with hitting a lot of contested shots as the Warriors finished the first half with nine 3-pointers.
The Warriors continued to score and trailed 61-59 after three quarters. Batiste was happy with his defense and said his team played hard. The Demons made it an emphasis to get inside and finish or draw fouls after a large free throw discrepancy against Fruita Monument on Jan. 31.
Durango pulled away in the fourth by getting to the free-throw line.
The Demons play Palisade at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
