The Durango High School boys basketball team traveled to Thursday to Shiprock, and according to Durango head coach Alan Batiste, his squad couldn’t buy a bucket in a 47-39 loss in the opening round of the Shiprock tournament.
Senior Orion Clay led Durango with 14 points on 5-for-15 shooting. Clay also had six rebounds and four assists but also had four turnovers. As a team, Durango shot only 17-for-60 from the field while shooting 2-for-19 from 3-point range.
“We just couldn’t get consistent on the run. (Bloomfield) sat in the zone,” Batiste said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “We had trouble shooting the ball (Thursday night). There was a lid on the hoop, and we couldn’t get it in.”
Durango (0-1) held an 18-17 halftime lead over Bloomfield (2-0), but the Bobcats’ defense held strong and limited the Demons’ shooting in the second half. By the third quarter, Bloomfield controlled the lead by going up 27-25 then held Durango to only seven points in the final quarter.
Senior Scott Morse totaled eight points and led Durango with 11 rebounds. Senior Seth Gilleland recorded five rebounds.
“Hopefully we’ll get those kinks out and we can shoot better (Friday),” Batiste said. “There was a lid on the hoop and we couldn’t get it in. Bloomfield didn’t do anything special. The plan was there, we just need to execute better (Friday).”
The Demons will play Newcomb at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
