The Durango High School girls basketball team was happy to sneak into the state tournament during a grueling season that was postponed and shortened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With only one practice to prepare for a first-round opponent, there wasn’t much the Demons could do against a team many expect to win the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A state tournament.
No. 29 Durango went down 33-6 after one quarter, 53-10 at halftime and eventually would fall 89-30 to No. 4 Mullen, a team with only two losses all season to Class 5A No. 1 Grandview, the 14th-ranked team in the nation.
2021 CHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournaments Class 4A“Mullen is a really good basketball team. I told our girls to play tough, but we were just outclassed,” DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. “Credit to them, they are an extremely good basketball team.”
Megan Pohs scored a game-high 30 points to lead the Mustangs (13-2). DHS sophomore Mason Rowland scored half of the Demons’ points to finish with 15.
Durango (6-9) did its best in the third quarter, an eight-minute stretch it lost 20-16.
“We got some steals and made some free throws there, but that was it,” Fitzpatrick said.
During a season in which seniors had to deal with a quarantine and players had to miss several games for various reasons, Fitzpatrick was proud of the Demons’ resolve and fight to make the playoffs.
“The resiliency of this team and our five seniors – Maddy McManus, Kyle Rowland, Brenna Wolf, Lily Longan and Ana Cuntz – they got us back into the state tournament,” Fitzpatrick said. “I mean, for crying out loud, these kids are playing with masks on. I am so proud of these girls and the seniors, in particular. Through all the ups and downs of quarantine, kids not playing, they forged ahead.
“For the kids returning, they can look at all of our close games this year and tonight’s game and say, ‘OK, this is where I need to put time in and work on my skills.’ But every girl should be proud of how they stepped up in a tough time and played.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
