Talk about On-the-Job Training

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The Durango High School

Boys Basketball Team

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had to learn the meaning

of on-the-job training

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when the pandemic literally halted

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all preseason practice and

play last Summer and Fall.

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But with six games under their

belt, three and three record

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and a tough victory over Fruita,

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a highly ranked five-A high school,

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the Demons have demonstrated

that attention to detail

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and team spirit will win the day.

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If you watched our first couple of games

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you would see passes that

weren’t anybody, you know,

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cuts nobody’s expecting you to cut there,

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defensive rotations that

were just out of place.

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And we’ve just been eliminating

some of those errors

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every single time we get out on the court

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and looking out from here.

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Johnson, a senior and Flint, a junior,

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are co-captains of the

Demons Boys Basketball Team.

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And they take their roles

as mentors seriously,

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both on and off the court.

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I think the biggest way that I can support

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is just offering my

experience and my knowledge

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in the classes that I’ve taken.

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Lots of times they’re struggling

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in a specific class

that I’ve already taken.

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And so that’s the one

thing that I can offer

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that a teacher maybe couldn’t

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or somebody else that’s their age.

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I’m like, “No, I took this class.

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I know what this unit’s all about.”

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So, you know, that’s another

part of the team sports.

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You know, you have

somebody to fall back on.

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I’m more than willing to help

kids with schoolwork and yeah.

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Yeah, and I think from more

of an athletic standpoint,

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is just constructive criticism.

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So just not bringing them

down if they make a bad play

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’cause we all make mistakes in basketball.

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But, yeah, just really, really

saying, “Oh, this was good.

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But then in the future you can do this.”

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And I feel like if everybody

really takes it to heart

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and instead of just

getting mad, like, “Oh,

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they just don’t think I’m good.”

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But if we just really work as a team

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and just build each other up.

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Both team captain say

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that building a cohesive

team takes patients, trust,

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mutual support and sometimes

a little forgiveness too,

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especially when someone makes a mistake.

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But the effort is worth it.

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And they say

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the friendships they’ve

built with their teammates

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will last a lifetime.

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It feels that much better

when it’s a collective win.

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It’s so much better than

just an individual win.

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You know, I play tennis,

I’ve won individually.

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It feels so much better to win as a team

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and celebrate with the 14

other guys in the locker room

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and really just get that

feeling through everybody

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that we worked hard, we won the game.

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And I think it’s just you

develop a lot of relationships

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that carry you past high school.

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‘Cause I know a lot of people…

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I have a brother who’s in college.

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And the people that he still

talks to from high school

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is who he played sports with.

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And I think being able to just

develop those relationships

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and just be comfortable with each other.

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‘Cause I played with him for

three years, four years even.

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And I think he’s one of my best friends.

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And so I think that’s one

of my favorite aspects

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of the team sport.

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With COVID restrictions in play,

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game attendance is limited.

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But you can catch broadcasts

of Demon basketball

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on nfhsnetwork.com.

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I’m Wendy Graham Settle

for the Demon Spotlight.

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