The high school basketball playoffs are here, and the Durango High School girls hoops squad is still dancing, but has to travel north to the outskirts of Denver to meet its first foe.
Seeded No. 20 in the 5A girls basketball state tournament on Sunday, the Demons will face No. 13 Golden in the second round on Saturday at 1 p.m. after both teams received a first-round bye.
“I didn't really know much about them until we found out who we're playing against, and … they have a really good record,” Durango head coach Lauren Moran said. “So they're obviously a good team, but at the same time, it's a good matchup for us. From what I've seen on film, I feel really excited about our chances. If we play well, then we can be successful.”
The Demons enter the playoffs 11-11 overall, and they finished 6A/5A Southwestern League play 4-6 overall. Durango is 3-2 in its last five games, with two of those wins coming against Palisade and Grand Junction, both teams the Demons lost to earlier in the season.
Durango is led by senior guard Claire Goodwin’s 12.2 points per game, with junior guard Jaelyn Alson averaging 10.4 PPG. Senior forwards Ryne Neiman and Aysia Mathews lead the team in rebounding, with each of them averaging 6.1 rebounds per game.
Golden enters the matchup 19-4 overall and went 6-3 in the 5A/4A/3A Jeffco League. Also with the Demons as their mascot, Golden started the season 12-0 with nine double-digit wins, but is 3-2 in its last five games. All four of Golden’s losses have been blowouts by an average of 28 points.
The Demons from up north are led by sophomore Maddie Perlman’s (No. 33) 10.5 PPG. Fellow sophomore Amelia Melcher (No. 31) averages 9.7 PPG, and Golden has four players averaging over eight PPG. Golden averages 49.7 PPG, compared to 40.1 PPG for Durango.
“They seem really balanced as far as their scoring,” Moran said. “They definitely like to press a lot. They seem to run like a diamond-and-one full-court press, and they're pretty aggressive in that … Their scorers seem to score the most around the rim, and they seem like really solid passers and pretty good fundamental basketball players.”
Durango has struggled at times this year against the press and with turnovers in general, averaging 20 turnovers per game compared to 6.3 assists per game. Durango will have to watch out for senior Ashlyn Bates (No. 4), who averages 4.2 steals per game.
Moran is working with her team this week on taking care of the ball. She also wants to clean some things up with their man offense and their finishing. Moran wants her team to control the pace.
If Durango can pull off the upset, it will face the winner of No. 4 Windsor vs. No. 29 Ponderosa, likely in Windsor. The Wizards of Windsor are 18-5 overall.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
