FARMINGTON – Both Durango and Farmington are trying to develop some type of rhythm on offense with the young rosters they have.
For the time being, the Scorpions have a bit of a head start in that department after Friday’s 42-21 win against the Demons in the Marv Sanders Invitational semifinals at Scorpion Arena in Farmington.
“We picked a bad night to not shoot the ball well,” Durango coach Alan Batiste said. “It seemed like when we finally got the lid off the basket, we still struggled getting into our offense. Those guards made it hard for our guards to get down. We only shot two free throws tonight, so that tells us that we’re not getting past the 3-point line.”
It was a long, draining night for the Demons.
Shots trickled around and off the rim, while others clanked off the backboard.
And whenever Farmington’s defense put pressure on the perimeter, Durango struggled to penetrate the defense and attack the basket.
“We’ve just got to show better poise and handle the ball well,” said Batiste, whose squad lost 11 seniors from a 21-win campaign last year. “We’ve got brand new guys put in their roles, and now we’re asking a lot out of them and throwing them into the fire.”
Both squads forced plenty of turnovers early, but neither got anything going in the opening minutes.
As the second quarter progressed, FHS generated some quick layups and muscled its way through the middle lanes. Some of those scoring chances came off turnovers at the top of the key.
“The higher-percentage shot is a layup, so we really look for that. But we’re trying to get our kids to understand that when defenses rotate, look for the open man,” said Farmington coach Paul Corley, whose team graduated seven seniors from last year’s 26-win campaign. “We didn’t want to let up. It’s a young group, and I’m not really sure if they can actually pull the ball up, run a stall offense. We kind of did there, but we wanted to keep attacking.”
Durango (1-3) will take on Shiprock for third place at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Farmington (2-3) will follow at 5 p.m. Saturday, against District 1-5A foe Kirtland Central for the tournament championship.
Matt Hollinshead covers sports for the Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4577 and mhollinshead@daily-times.com.
