Dunne
I was not unhappy," Durango High School boys basketball coach Tom Dunne said after Tuesday night's nine-point loss at Fruita Monument. The effort was there for all four quarters."
Fruita Monument, who many consider, Dunne said, the best of the best in the SWL, defeated Durango 57-48 on Tuesday night in a makeup game.
We got off to a bit of a slow start," Dunne said.
Fruita Monument led 10-3 after the first quarter.
Then we picked it up," Dunne said.
Fruita Monument and Durango matched each other with 14-point frames in the second quarter, and the Wildcats led 24-17 at the half.
The kids maintained good, quality defensive intensity through four quarters," Dunne said. The difference was free throws."
Durango has been struggling from the free throw line as of late, but the issue wasn't the Demons' ineffectiveness from the line but rather the Wildcats' savvy from the stripe.
Fruita Monument was 19-for-23 from the line, while Durango was just 7 of 10.
Which is indicative of the fact that we're not getting to the rim," Dunne said. We're settling for outside shots, except for Austin. He had another great game (Tuesday night)."
Austin Rochford led the Demons with 17 points and scored 29 in their two makeup games in the Grand Valley on Monday and Tuesday combined.
Gustavo Zavala scored 12 points and gave us a great game both offensively and defensively," Dunne said.
Easton Garcia scored 11 points and broke their pressure for four quarters and ran our offense," Dunne said of his sophomore point guard.
Jordan Gillen scored six, and Chase Cushing scored two.
Steve Goff led the Wildcats with 20 points, and Drew Bridges added 15 points.
They're pretty good. They've got a couple of balers," Dunne said. Coach (Dave) Fox has them playing at a very high level, attacking the rim, making foul shots."
DHS (6-9 overall, 2-3 SWL) will host Grand Junction Central and Fruita Monument on Friday night (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday afternoon (1:30 p.m.).
heraldsports@durangoherald.com