If the Durango Demons were feeling good off their 34-6 takedown of the Cheyenne Mountain Red-Tailed Hawks last Saturday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Durango was just a bucket shy of victory on Tuesday and fell 38-37 to Piedra Vista. While losing is never fun, Durango can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 121st in Colorado, while Piedra Vista is ranked 23rd in New Mexico).
Several Demons players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Mariah Maestas, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds. Maestas scored a full 32.4% of Durango's points, the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Ellie White was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with six rebounds.
Even though they lost, Durango were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
It was another big night for Tyra Holyan, who scored 11 points for Piedra Vista. The game was Holyan's eighth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordis Fage, who scored 11 points.
Durango's loss ended a nine-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 4-4. As for Piedra Vista, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 5-3.
Durango will be home for the holidays to greet Pagosa Springs at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Pagosa Springs focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Saturday. Piedra Vista and El Dorado will round out the year against one another at 11:30 a.m. on December 28th at. El Dorado has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
