It took 10 games, but the Durango Demons finally are ready to play at home.
The Durango High School boys basketball team (4-6) is set to open Class 4A/5A Southwestern League play at 7 p.m. Friday against Grand Junction, the top-team in the league entering Friday.
“Grand Junction is the team to beat. We give it to them out of respect, but we’re gonna try to compete,” Batiste said.
The Tigers (9-5, 1-0 SWL) opened league play with an emphatic 53-29 win over Montrose (4-7, 0-1). The Demons will try to keep pace with the Montrose Indians and Montezuma-Cortez, the two other 4A teams in the league who will join the Demons in the season-ending 4A Western Slope tournament.
“Everything up to now has been our first season. We always tell the boys, and they know, this is the second season now,” Batiste said. “They’ve written down their goals, but the key is to handle the league schedule before the luxury of playing in the 4A district tournament with just the 4A teams. We know we have to dominate our 4A class in this division, and we want to come out on top with Cortez and Montrose.”
DHS made trips to Parker and Pueblo for tournaments to begin the season along with two trips to Farmington and Pagosa Springs.
“It is tough, but I have to say we’re used to it by now,” said DHS junior Lucas Baken, son of Dante and Jessica Baken. “We’re used to practicing in other people’s gyms. It’s basketball. It doesn’t matter where we play or travel to, we just need to do what we need to do.”
The only game they’ve played in town so far came on a neutral court in a 50-33 loss to Class 2A Ignacio at Fort Lewis College’s Whalen Gymnasium.
But when the Demons step on their home floor Friday, they promise to be a different team than the one that struggled against the Bobcats on Jan. 8.
“We’re playing better together, and that will be our strength going forward,” said senior DJ Bay, son of Dale and Nancy Bay. “We are really good as a team right now, and hopefully that will get us somewhere.”
Batiste admitted team chemistry was an issue for the team early on.
“We’ve moved forward. The boys are smiling again, having fun playing together rather than being on each other at times,” Batiste said. “We’ve learned from the bad things we had going early on.”
Batiste has tried to keep the players away from looking at stat lines and league standings. All he wants them to focus on is building momentum, especially after a 54-50 win at Piedra Vista last week.
Baken said the team has all the tools to compete with the SWL, including Grand Junction senior Ridge Droskin and 6-foot-8 senior center DJ Wells.
The Demons counter with five players all taller than 6-foot-3, with athletic players on the perimeter.
“We have the tools. We just need to put them all together, and that’s what we’re working on,” Baken said.
Batiste said the entire school is ready for the home-opener, with the student body craving boys basketball. Bay said the Demons don’t plan to disappoint. After all, they’ll only get four home games all season.
“We’re really happy to finally get a chance to be in our home gym,” Bay said. “Hopefully we show everybody what we’re made of.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
