Fort Lewis had a historic 29-4 campaign in 2022-23 with a share of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular-season title, as well as winning the RMAC tournament title outright.
The Skyhawks got off to a 10-0 start before heading to Salt Lake City on Dec. 17 to face Westminster, which was 2-9 entering the matchup.
However, the Griffins shocked the undefeated Skyhawks with a 93-79 victory in front of 122 fans at Behnken Fieldhouse.
“We went to Salt Lake and I don't know if we played bad or if they just played excellent,” Fort Lewis coach Bob Pietrack said. “They had a great shooting night and we didn't. They had a very good team and they beat us and then we got our revenge when they came to Durango. To say that game isn't on our minds this time around would be not being honest with it.”
This season, the two squads are in similar spots entering their next matchup at 3 p.m. Saturday at Fort Lewis. The Skyhawks (8-1) is tied for first in the RMAC and ranked in the top 25 polls for Division II. Westminster (4-6) is last in the RMAC with an 0-4 conference record.
Pietrack made it clear that although the teams are in similar spots, both teams have different players, and records don’t matter in RMAC play because conference games are so competitive.
“As a staff, the thing that we're most encouraged with up to this point is our team's toughness and competitiveness,” Pietrack said. “As we're learning roles and learning each other, we believe that our toughness and competitiveness have got us to the point where we are at right now. If someone hadn't come to Whalen Gymnasium and watched us play so far, they would see that this is a very competitive team. We're playing extremely hard and getting it done on both ends of the floor, but our defense was setting the tone for the year we're having.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
