The Colorado Demons showed Texas who’s boss.
The team, an Amateur Athletic Union squad made up of players from Durango and Ignacio High Schools traveled July 11-12 to Lubbock, Texas, for the Southwest Hoops Nationals, a 14-team tournament.
The team consisted of Lucas Baken, Guy Bay, Orion Clay, Kyle Kirkpatrick, Scott Morse and Terrence Trujillo from DHS and Nick Hererra and Wyatt Hayes from IHS.
Five games later, they were champions.
“This event was probably comparable to a really competitive (Class) 4A type of bracket to compare it to Colorado state classifications,” said assistant coach Geno Trujillo. “There were some dunks and some real athletic kids.”
The Demons didn’t start off soft, either.
They faced the tournament favorite Lubbock Zags in their opener, and it came down to the last possession.
“We were down two points with probably eight seconds left, and we were breaking, transitioning toward our basket,” Trujillo said. “(DHS senior) Terrence (Trujillo) had a 3-pointer blocked out of bounds.”
The coaching staff then drew up a play for either Hayes or Baken to take a 3-pointer coming off a pick.
Terrence Trujillo threw the ball in to Hayes, who hit a 3 from college range to win the game.
Baken hit his own game-winner in the semifinals against the West Texas Bulls.
“There’s not a weak person on the team,” said Terrence Trujillo, son of Geno and Nicole Trujillo. “It’s more fun like that when you know you can pass to anyone and they can score at any time.”
Terrence Trujillo sealed the Demons’ third one-point win with a free throw in the final seconds.
After those three tight games, the Demons expected a battle in the final.
It didn’t end up being that close.
They rolled the West Texas Bulls 59-31 to finish 5-0 and win the title.
“Our first game together, we were a little rusty,” said Hererra, son of Chris and Kathy Herrera. “After that we just took off.”
Durango’s Orion Clay put an exclamation point on not only the game but the tournament as a whole with a dunk to put the Demons up 20.
“That pretty much let everyone know we weren’t giving up the lead,” Geno Trujillo said.
The title was a bit surprising for a team that only had been playing together as whole for the summer.
Some of the kids had been playing together since fourth grade off and on, but last weekend was their first time on the court as a collective unit.
Hayes had played with the Durango kids before, but it was Herrera’s first time.
The tournament gave athletes that have competed against each other in recent years a chance to work together.
“I’ve played with Wyatt since I was in 5th grade. We haven’t played together in a long time, but once we stepped on the floor it was like nothing changed,” said Baken, son of Dante and Jessica Baken. “It was nice for once to not have to play defense on him.”
With the summer winding down, the Colorado Demons have just one tournament left – the Bigfoot Hoops Las Vegas Classic on July 22-26.
They’ll be without Baken and Terrence Trujillo because of prior football commitments, but Ignacio’s Anthony Manzanares and Tucker Ward will step in.
“That was a big thing, getting them. Ignacio’s been really successful in their basketball program,” Geno Trujillo said. “Getting them and Durango kids to come together, it was a really cool thing.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
