A new era of Durango girls basketball is off to a good start, as the Demons won two of their first three games under new coach Lauren Moran.
Durango beat Ignacio 41-27 on Thursday and beat Olathe 44-25 on Friday, but lost 33-31 against Centauri on Saturday.
Against Ignacio, junior guard Mariah Maestas led the Demons with 14 points with two 3-point shots and four 2-point baskets made. Senior forward Carter Neiman and junior forward Ellie White each had nine points.
“We had some foul trouble in the first game against Ignacio, and so it was really good that we were able to kind of fight through that,” Moran said. “We only brought eight people here, but everybody got a lot of minutes yesterday with the foul trouble and everyone was really able to contribute. Carter Neiman did a really awesome job defensively.”
Ignacio senior Solymar Cosio led the Bobcats with 13 points.
The Demons got off to a 16-8 lead after the first and led 27-16 at half. Durango extended its lead to 37-21 after three quarters and secured the win.
Against Olathe, White led the Demons with 15 points. Olathe’s Tyra Gray had 12 points.
The score was tied at 14-14 after the first quarter, but the Demons pulled ahead for good in the second quarter.
“Everybody's mentioned when we talk where everybody's learning new roles and also because this is the first time that I've coached them they're also learning new offensive steps that I want them to do,” Moran said. “I don't think that we are super confident offensively, but we have found a way to score when we need a bucket. So I was proud of them for that. And just overall we were just really happy by how hard everybody played and the hustle plays that they made.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
