After leading the Durango High School girls’ basketball to the Class 5A state semifinals, a conference title and an 23-3 overall record, DHS senior Mason Rowland was recently honored by the league and the state.
Rowland was one of six players in Class 5A named to the All-State first team, presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and Maxpreps.com. Rowland was also named the Player of the Year for the 6A/5A Southwestern League, additionally earning first-team all-league honors.
The senior averaged 17.9 points per game, shooting 49% from the field for a total of 466 points this season. She also averaged 5.2 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 1.8 steals per game. Rowland will play college basketball for Colorado Mesa University.
Jayda Maves of Green Mountain was named the state’s player of the year in Class 5A while Ryanne Bahnsen-Price of Roosevelt, Samantha Darnell of Windsor, Kyra Haan of Mead and Caitlin Kramer of Air Academy also made the first team.
Two of Rowland’s teammates were also honored by the league.
Halle Peterson and Riley Campbell were both named second-team all-league.
Peterson was Durango’s second leading scorer, averaging 8.0 points and also snagging 4.0 rebounds per game.
Campbell, a Western Colorado University soccer commit, also helped drive Durango’s offense with 32 assists and 96 points.
The eventual state champion, Roosevelt, beat DHS in the state semis.
Two basketball players from Ignacio High School girls’ basketball team also earned all-state honors. Laci Brunson and Harmony Reynolds both earned all-state honorable mentions for Class 3A.
Reynolds averaged 14.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game to help Ignacio (11-11 overall) reach the state tournament.
Brunson averaged 8.2 points and 5.0 assists per game.
Brunson and Reynolds were also honored by the Intermountain League with First Team honors.
On the slopes, one more Durango Demon earned all-state honors this winter. Ian Fehr was named an All-State slalom skier for DHS by the Colorado Ski League recently. Fehr won the slalom race at Winter Park before eventually placing 12th at the state championships at Copper Mountain.
Zach Unruh started the season playing on the Durango boys’ junior varsity squad, but by the end of the winter had emerged as one of the top players in the league. Unruh averaged a team-high 9.0 points per game once he got his shot on varsity.
Recently, Unruh was awarded a second team All-League honor from the 6A/5A Southwestern League.
“He started on JV and kept working hard, got his chance to move up the first game of league and thrived,” said DHS head coach Alan Batiste. “Plays hard and with a passion … so proud of how far he has come.”
Unruh was the only player honored from DHS, which finished 7-16 overall.
On the ice, DHS competed in the Colorado High School Activities Association for the first time this season, scored a spot in the Class 4A state playoffs and finished 8-8-2 overall.
Three Demon hockey players recently scored all-league honors from the 4A Mountain conference.
Defender Mitch Rhodus was named second-team all-league in the 4A Mountain conference.
Goalie Evan Brock and forward Pol Cavaller also earned all-league honorable mentions.
With Rhodus clamping down on opposing offenses, Brock allowed an average of 2.4 goals this season, shutting out three teams and saving 90% of the shots he faced for a total of 216 saves. Cavaller scored a team-high nine goals while Rhodus assisted seven goals.
No Demon hockey players or boys basketball players were named all-state.
In addition to the athletes from La Plata County who were honored recently, several other athletes from the Four Corners scored All-State awards this winter
Two Dove Creek girls’ basketball players were honored after the team finished third at the Class 1A state championships. Lexi Gray scored First Team All-State honors while teammate Rylee Hickman received an honorable mention in Class 1A.
Austin Wood of Montezuma-Cortez earned an All-State basketball honorable mention in Class 3A.
Claire Goodwin of Mancos also scored earned an All-State honorable on the court in Class 2A.
