Durango High School girls basketball head coach Lauren Moran knew she had four veteran players to rely on heading into last season, whereas there are a lot more question marks this year.
Regardless, the goal stays the same: Win a lot of games and compete with every team in the 6A/5A Southwestern League.
Durango lost four invaluable players that Moran knew she could count on last year. Mariah Maestas, Lilly Fitzpatrick, Ellie White and Tyler Trujillo graduated after being part of two Great 8 runs in the state championships. The four seniors were four of Durango’s top five scorers last year.
Maestas was a quality ball handler, defender and outside shooter; Fitzpatrick was a great defender who was versatile in who she could guard and how she could score; Trujillo was a steady ball handler, playmaker and finisher; White was the interior force, who could score in the paint, rebound and hit an outside shot.
These four Demons led Durango to a 19-7 overall record last year and a trip to the Denver Coliseum for the 5A state quarterfinals. Without them, it’s a new chapter for the program.
“We had a really strong senior class last year, and it's going to be difficult to replace them,” Moran said. “But we have put in quite a bit of work in the summer and the fall, and we have a lot of people who are ready to take on bigger roles. I'm optimistic and excited about that.”
The Demons played in a summer league in Aztec, and they played games in the San Luis Valley. Players went to Fort Lewis College and Colorado Mesa University basketball camps. In the fall, the Demons did a lot of skill development in open gyms.
One player who plays as much basketball as she can is senior guard Claire Goodwin. The 5-foot-7-inch guard led the Demons in her first season with the team last year with 13.4 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game and 2.9 steals per game.
Goodwin is a scorer from all three levels who has a nice shooting stroke. She’s a good athlete and when her outside shot is falling, she’s hard to stop. In addition to going to all the open gyms and games with the Demons, Goodwin played AAU with the Utah Lady Prospects out of Salt Lake City and trained in Denver.
Moran said that Goodwin has improved on her strengths. A lot of Durango’s success this season will depend on how Goodwin can get her teammates involved and set them up for success, according to Moran.
Another key contributor in last year’s rotation was Jaelyn Alston. Now a junior, Alston showed flashes of athlecism combined with skill off the bench for Durango, averaging 3.6 PPG. Moran expects her to have a big leap in production after improving an already good outside shot.
“She had some really big games for us last year, and she's really dedicated herself to her strength training over the last year,” Moran said about Alston. “She is 100% ready to take on a much bigger role. In addition to ball handling, her scoring, defense and rebounding are going to be huge for us this year.”
The last returner from Moran’s regular rotation last year is senior forward Ryne Neiman. At 5-foot-10-inches, Neiman was a great defender and rebounder off the bench last season with her height and athleticism.
Moran thinks she’ll also contribute on the offensive end this year with her finishing inside and midrange jumpshot. Neiman and Alston are both lead-by-example players who are good with connecting with all their teammates, according to Moran.
Three players who are ready to step up into bigger roles are senior guard Josie Phare, junior guard Gracie Fitzpatrick and junior forward Kaleigh Roan. Moran said all three of them were ready to play more last year if it wasn’t for how strong the senior class was. Phare and Fitzpatrick are additional ball handlers who are great athletes on the defensive end.
A familiar Demon inside the Durango High School gym is senior Aysia Mathews. A standout volleyball player, Mathews joins the basketball team after not being cleared from her ACL injury until the summer. At 5-foot-11-inches, she gives the Demons more length in the paint.
Durango had a lot of options on offense last season, but the Demons were still known for their defense; Durango played in a low of low-scoring games with how it shut down its opponents. Moran still wants her team’s identity to be defense, but she wants to push the ball on offense to take advantage of her team’s athleticism; she also wants to give her shooters more catch-and-shoot 3-pointers.
The Demons’ schedule is very similar to last year’s. Durango opens at Farmington on Tuesday, and plays in the Marv Sanders Tournament in Farmington, a tournament in Aztec and the Canon City tournament all before league play starts in January. Moran expects Fruita Monument and Montrose to be strong again in the league.
“What's really going to make the difference is how much we can improve from the beginning to the end,” Moran said. “Of course, we hope to compete and win at Farmington. But whatever happens is not going to define the season ... So we're really just trying to emphasize getting 1% better every single day. We can compete and be successful.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
