After nine games, the Durango boys basketball team is only one win away from tying its season win total from last season.
The Demons finished off the Marv Sanders Invitational tournament Saturday in Farmington with a 57-39 win over Cañon City.
Durango (6-3) shot 48% from the field, 47% from 3-point range and 40% from the free throw line. Cañon City (2-5) shot 36% from the field, 15% from 3-point range and 60% from the free throw line.
Junior guard JT. Neubert led the Demons with 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting overall and 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Freshman forward Donovan Whitehead had 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting overall and 2 of 2 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Demons fell behind 15-13 after the first quarter, but gained a slim 29-26 lead at half. Then Durango turned up its play in the second half by outscoring Cañon City 28-13 to cruise to victory.
“When we went man to man and we just extended our zone if we went zone, and that helped create that pressure and we were just able to get out in the transition,” Demons coach Alan Batiste said about the second half. “Even when we were stealing that basketball they were able to get back. We just executed on the offensive end where we got it back inside out and we hit some through some big 3s.”
Durango will play its first home game of the season on Thursday against Pagosa Springs, which boasts a 6-1 record.
Dugan won the 120-pound division championship at the Warrior Classic this past Friday in Grand Junction.
“Overall, the teams competed really well,” Durango boys wrestling coach Jason Silva said. “Ryan was the only one who made it to D2 and the Warrior Classic is one of the toughest tournaments in Colorado for the season. So it's a pretty big deal to win that tournament. I don't think anybody from Durango has won that tournament probably since the early 2000s or the ’90s.”
It was also a notable event for Dugan because he won his 100th varsity match over the weekend. Wyatt Bartel went 3-2 in the varsity 144-pound weight class, and Braxton Waddell went 1-2 in the 175-pound weight class.
The Demons will host the Durango Quad tournament Wednesday at 10 a.m. against Farmington, Pagosa Springs and Mancos.
“It's going to be a really high-quality meet because all of the teams are ranked in the top 10 of their classes,” Silva said. “Mancos I think it's third or fourth, Pagosa is sixth or seventh then Farmington is ranked in New Mexico also. So three quality clubs that are highly ranked that have a bunch of good kids on the roster. The big thing I'm trying to do for the kids is make sure they have really high-quality competition throughout the season.”
The Demons blanked Air Academy 10-0 on Saturday.
Forward Lucas Betz scored three goals, while forward Henry Howe and Wynn Daniels each had two goals.
Durango improved to 1-2 on the season with the win, although it did beat the defending state champions Cheyenne Mountain 3-2 in an exhibition game on Friday night.
Durango coach Brian Ensign was happy with how his team moved the puck in the offensive zone and worked on some things against Air Academy.
“I have expectations that we're going to compete in every game and that we have an opportunity to win every game we play in,” Ensign said. “These are high school kids, so you have to maintain focus and you have to show up with the same intensity. They're a good character team, it's a good work ethic team. They all work really hard. We have some top-line skill for sure and we do have two outstanding goaltenders returning that are two juniors. It's hard to know what the other teams around the league are bringing in this year until you play them.”
Durango hockey next plays on Jan. 5 at Summit.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
