Durango will have its eyes set on Delta.
The Durango High School boys basketball team finished the 2016 season as the top Class 4A finisher in the 5A/4A Southwestern League, which drew the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A Southwestern/Western Slope District Tournament.
The two leagues get together this weekend for an 11-team district tournament that will determine the four state tournament qualifiers.
The tournament will be held on Feb. 18-20 at Central and Palisade High Schools. With all first round games will be played on February 18.
Durango (13-7, 6-4 Southwestern) ended up being third overall behind Grand Junction (17-5, 8-1) and Fruita Monument (12-9, 7-1) in the final Southwestern League standings. Grand Junction and Fruita Monument are 5A teams.
Durango pulled No. 8 Delta (9-11, 5-9 Western Slope) in the first round.
The last time the Demons played the Panthers was in the 2014 disctrict tournament where Durango prevailed 45-41. Durango’s leading scorer is senior Orion Clay who averages 14.2 points and 5.5 reboudns per game. Delta is a young team led by sophomore Jasper Carmichael who averages 11.5 points and freshman Kyle Mock who averages 11.1 points per game. Durango and Delta will tip off at Central High School at 7:30 p.m.
No. 2 Rifle (17-3, 12-2 Western Slope) will play No. 7 Montrose (4-16, 1-9 Southwestern) at 4:30 p.m. at Central.
No. 3 Palisade (10-10, 10-4 Western Slope) will square off against No. 6 Steamboat Springs (10-10, 7-7 Western Slope) at 7:30 p.m. at Palisade High School.
No. 4 Glenwood Springs (11-9, 9-5 Western Slope) will take on No. 5 Battle Mountain (11-9, 8-6 Western Slope) at 4:30 p.m. at Palisade High School.
DHS girls will play Delta, too
The Durango High School girls basketball team also drew the Delta Panthers for the first round of the Class 4A Southwestern/Western Slope District Tournament.
Tournament games will also be played at Central and Palisade High Schools from Feb. 18-20.
No. 2 Durango (13-6, 4-4 Southwestern) will take on No. 7 Delta (9-11, 5-9 Western Slope). Leading Durango is Katrina Chandler who leads the Demons with 15.0 points, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game. For Delta, Emily Nortnik leads the Panthers with 12.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. This game will tip off at 3 p.m. at Central High School.
The tournament’s top seed, Montrose (14-5, 7-1 Southwestern) will open the first round against No. 8 Summit (8-12, 4-10 Western Slope) at 6 p.m. at Central High School.
No. 3 Palisade (18-2, 14-0 Western Slope) will play No. 6 Steamboat Springs (8-12, 6-8 Western Slope) at 6 p.m. at Palisade High School.
No. 4 Rifle (16-4, 12-2 Western Slope) will playe Eagle Valley (12-8, 9-5) at 3 p.m. at Palisade High School.
heraldsports@ durangoherald.com
