The pre-holiday portion of the regular season is drawing to a close rapidly.
And the Demons surely would like to head into their brief respite on a high note.
Durango High School boys basketball will make a quick stop at home at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Farmington before heading out this weekend for the Palisade Invitational. After that, the Demons will be off until a Jan. 11 tilt against Ignacio.
DHS enters this final week of play in 2013 at 2-2 after posting a 2-1 weekend at the Pepsi Holiday Invitational Tournament in Flagstaff, Ariz., last weekend. It proved to be a nice bounceback effort for the Demons after falling 65-54 at home to Kirtland Central in the season opener on Dec. 3.
It was a return to the kind of defense that’s become the hook on which head coach Alan Batiste’s teams have hung their hat in recent years. After allowing 65 in the opener, DHS allowed an average of 43.33 points per game in Arizona, a small sample size the Demons will look to expand, starting against a 1-6 Farmington squad averaging nearly 50 points per game so far this season.
“The kids are kind of coming back to Durango basketball,” Batiste said in a phone interview Monday. “One of the things as you try and find an identity ... one of the things we noticed is we kind of fell into that defensive thing, that defensive mindset.”
The offensive output is up so far this season, as well, although four games isn’t exactly a scientifically reliable sample size. Through a brief stretch, DHS is averaging 51.8 points per game this season, up from 47.3 a year ago. The biggest hiccup came in a 44-4 loss to Willow Canyon last weekend.
But even with a small sample size, the early uptick in scoring is a welcome sight for a team that occassionaly had to grind out wins in which it scored fewer than 40 points a year ago.
“We can stretch the defense a little bit more with having more than just one shooter on the floor,” Batiste said. “We’ve got about two or three guys that can put it on the floor and get it into the paint.”
A 2-1 showing in Flagstaff becomes more impressive when you take the competition into account. The three teams DHS faced – Snowflake, Willow Canyon and Northland Prep Academy – have a combined record of 22-5 so far this season. And with nonconference games remaining against Farmington, Ignacio and Pagosa Springs alongside the Palisade Invite, Durango should be plenty prepared once Southwestern League play rolls around Jan. 17 at Grand Junction.
“One of our goals is to be 8-2 when we get to that Junction game,” Batiste said. “Not looking past the teams we haven’t played yet, but we also know what the boys are looking forward to.”
rowens@durangoherald.com
