It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, and that was a good thing for the Durango High School girls basketball team Friday.
After a terrible first half, Durango turned the tables on the home team and staged a massive second-half comeback to rally and beat Grand Junction 35-26. Katrina Chandler led the Demons once again. She had 13 points while Stephanie Basye added five points and nine rebounds in the comeback win.
Durango trailed 19-5 at halftime and scored only one point in the first quarter.
“It was definitely a tale of two halves,” head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “They fought back hard and that’s all I could ask for. I’m proud of the girls, especially the returners from last year who have really taken the next step.”
Durango (11-4, 3-2 5A/4A Southwestern League) cruised to a 47-24 blowout win the first time the two teams met, but the Demons got off to a very slow start in Friday’s contest. What was a high powered Demons offense in the first meeting didn’t score a basket until midway through Friday’s second quarter, when Shilo Gillen found the net.
Facing a 19-5 halftime deficit, the gritty Durango squad and their coach knew they were better than what they were showing, and something had to be done.
“I just asked them if this is what they wanted and whether they really wanted to make the big step forward and be a top-level team,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m proud of what I saw in response.”
In the second half, Durango marched back in the game behind a stifling full-court press defense. The Demons’ defense allowed only three third quarter points and the offense came alive. They started the third quarter on a 11-0 run and the fourth quarter on another 10-0 run.
After seizing the momentum and stunning the hometown crowd, the visitors kept the pressure going in the fourth. Chandler buried a 3 to start the quarter which gave the Durango its first lead, and the Demons didn’t stop there.
Grand Junction put up one last run and cut the Durango lead to four with two minutes remaining, but Durango was solid at the foul line and shut the door on a Tigers (8-12, 1-5 SWL) comeback.
“This kind of comeback really says a lot about our team,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s a big deal to them.”
Durango will be back on the court hoping for a better start at noon Saturday against Grand Junction Central.
jfries@durangoherald.com
