Basketball Season Cut Short, But Demon Girls Play On

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To say that the Durango High School

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Girls Varsity Basketball team is tight,

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would be an understatement.

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With six seniors on the team, you’d expect

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that four years of

experience playing together,

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would make for well executed plays.

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But in this case, the seniors actually

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have been playing together

as a team since second grade.

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And they hope that experience

and longtime teamwork

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will carry them to the

Colorado High School

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Activities Association’s 4A Playoffs

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for the State Championship.

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It definitely helps growing up together

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and playing the game we love together.

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Definitely!

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We just, you can tell when we play

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that we play as a team and we

play as a family basically.

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And so it doesn’t get better than that.

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We work together to

accomplish all our goals,

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which is like really fun,

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versus individual where you’re all alone

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and you kind of are on your own

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to figure out what you have

to do to win or whatever.

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But you know, you have people to rely on

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and they always have your

back and we love each other.

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So, that’s what I love about it.

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I’ve been playing, like

I said, with these girls

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for a long time where I

feel like we know each other

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on a different level and

you can see it on the court.

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We just know where we are.

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We know how another person plays.

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There’s just a certain

level of connectedness.

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And I think that really only comes with

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playing this difficult

sport for that many years

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with the same girls.

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Rowland, Cuntz, and McManus

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say the pandemic has injected

uncertainty this year,

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but their long-time

experience playing together

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definitely gives them an advantage

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during a shortened season.

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The Demons are scheduled to

play only 14 games this year,

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compared with the usual 24.

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It’s been very strange

and interesting, you know,

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with the masks and stuff.

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We’ve definitely had to prove ourselves,

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and you know, our determination to play.

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You know, the people that want to play

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obviously want to be here

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and the people don’t, they aren’t here.

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So it really just shows

our dedication to the sport

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and how we want to do going forward.

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You know, more than anything,

I think we’re just happy

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we get the opportunity to play.

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Even under these weird

circumstances, you know?

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The masks make it

difficult, but I don’t think

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there’s anything we wouldn’t

do to have the opportunity.

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So it’s been great!

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Obviously there’s some little

bumps we have to overcome,

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but nothing we can’t do

if we do it together, so.

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No matter whether they win or lose,

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team members say the fun in the game

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is about doing your best,

learn from your mistakes,

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and get ready for the next play,

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because it’s coming right at

you in this fast-paced sport!

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One important thing

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is always uplifting each other.

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And a big part of basketball

is always moving on

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to the next play.

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Everyone’s going to make mistakes.

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And I think every single girl

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on the team has had that moment,

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or those certain plays

where you’re just like,

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“Wow, she is a really

good basketball player.”

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And I’ve seen that with every

single one of my teammates.

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So when those moments do happen,

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just being as encouraging as possible,

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and clapping, and let’s do it again,

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like next play, do it again.

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And when it doesn’t go well,

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when you air ball a shot,

being there and supporting them

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and reminding them how good they are.

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It’s just that one moment,

everybody makes mistakes.

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Michael Jordan made mistakes.

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So you just got to be as

encouraging as possible.

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It’s really important,

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especially because of how

mentally tough the sport is.

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If you start getting down on yourself,

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then you’re stuck in a rut.

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Good lessons for life,

not just basketball.

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And with that, we wish

the Demon Girls Basketball

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and Coach Tim Fitzpatrick the best of luck

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in their quest for a State Championship

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to cap off a 10-year career

of team spirit and comradery!

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I’m Wendy Graham Settle

for the Demon Spotlight.

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