The Durango High School boys and girls basketball teams traveled to Grand Junction Central for some key league games Friday. The Durango girls played the Warriors to see who could stay first-place in the league, while the Durango boys and Central battled to stay out of the league’s cellar.
The girls’ game went into overtime tied at 40-40. In the extra period, however, Durango didn’t score, and Central prevailed 43-40.
DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said the Demons missed a lot of easy shots.
DHS jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first quarter with nine points from Mason Rowland. She finished with 25, going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Central, however, outscored DHS 21-13 in the second to take a slim, 25-24 lead into halftime.
Both teams scored 12 points in the third, then DHS won the fourth quarter, 4-3, to send the game into overtime.
Riley Campbell scored six, and Sydney Flores added four for the Demons.
Durango is now 11-4 overall and 1-1 in the 5A/4A Southwestern League. Central improved to 12-1, 2-0.
The Durango boys snapped their six-game losing skid with a 49-31 win over Central.
DHS had a 28-18 lead, but Central hit a long three at the buzzer to go into halftime down 28-21. Central stayed close at 31-28. The Demons, however, went on a 14-0 run in the fourth and only gave up four points in the final quarter to prevail.
“It was a great team effort,” said DHS head coach Alan Batiste. “And that’s the only way we’ll be able to be successful.”
Anthony Flint knocked down five 3-pointers to finish with 15 points. Walter Stauffer scored 10 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Dylan Bettin also scored 10.
Durango improved to 6-8, 1-1 while Central slid to 4-9, 0-2.
Both Durango teams will play another game in the Grand Valley Saturday against Fruita Monument.
