Underdog Durango wins Prep title

Steve Cunningham

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 1997 | 12:03 p.m.

Pick an adjective, any one of these descriptions, and it could be used to portray the Durango boys' basketball team:

Gritty. Gutty. Scrappy. Opportunistic. Pesky. Enthusiastic. Undersized. Underdog.

Today, you can add another to the list -- Champion.

The call-'em-what-you-like Trailblazers captured the title at the Las Vegas Prep Championship on Tuesday night by surprising previously unbeaten Valley 72-68. Al La Rocque's crew won't wow you with their size or athleticism or ability, but they won five games in four days to win the third annual tournament.

Durango's coach, who's seen and coached far superior squads, had a big smile on his face after the improbable victory.

"Did I tell you I was the tallest guy on the team? Look at this," La Rocque said while holding an outstretched hand over the head of 6-foot-2 Charles Ashley. "The thing is they have a lot of heart and love to play the game. That's more important than talent and other things. The best thing about this group is they enjoy each other and they have that passion.

"They want to play, they want to compete and sometimes that overcomes everything else."

Durango (10-5) rose from the dead against Valley just like it did a night earlier in the semifinals against Western. The Trailblazers, down just two to the Vikings at halftime, came out of intermission out of sync and quickly found themselves behind by nine.

With Valley (12-1) looking good in its quest to keep its unblemished record intact, Durango could have folded up the tents and called it a good tournament. But one Trailblazer -- Anwar Washington -- decided to take matters into his own hands.

The 6-1 senior hit four 3-pointers, the last with 8:39 to play, knotting the game at 50. Washington canned shots when covered, when open and from four different places. Steve Simister and Joe Gentile also knocked down treys during the rally.

"They hit some shots that were real hard to defend," Valley coach Paul Aznarez said. "I mean, they were way out there. You know, they miss one or two of those and it goes our way."

Ahron Eggleston quickly gave the Vikings the lead again when he scored on a driving layup, but Simister tied the game with a layup of his own. Another Simister 3-pointer and a jumper by Washington pushed Durango up for good.

The Trailblazers extended the lead to seven, watched it cut to two on a pair of free throws by Alex Hernandez with 24 seconds remaining, then iced the contest with four free throws from Simister -- the tournament MVP.

Hernandez, who poured in a game-high 28 points, scored on a rebound basket with 11:14 left in the game and didn't score again until he hit a pair of free throws at the 4:36 mark. During that nearly seven-minute span is when Durango made its move, a fact not lost on La Rocque.

"I don't know his numbers, but if he's not the best player in town he's one of the best," La Rocque said of the Valley star. "When you are coaching against a player like that, you don't want him to beat you. We doubled him whenever we could, trying to keep him from getting the ball and what he got he got. We weren't going to let him get 50 and he's capable of doing that."

Washington paced the Durango offense with 21 points and Ashley added 15. Gentile scored 12 points and Simister, quiet for most of the night, finished with 11. Besides Hernandez, the only other Viking to hit double digits was Jason Juniel, who put in 21 points.

Meanwhile, Western rebounded from its disappointing semifinal loss to Durango and beat Las Vegas 74-61 for third place. Vance Lawhorn paced the Warriors' attack with 34 points and Jimmy White chipped in 21. Ronnie Jones scored 17 points and Marion Finley 13 for the Wildcats.

Clark took seventh place by routing Serra of California 77-55. Kevin Gaines scored 23 points, Jamie Manor 16 and David Chalmers and Justin Jefferson both added 11.

Cimarron-Memorial captured ninth place with a 69-52 win over Corona, Calif. Five players -- Brian Lang (19), Justin Gaines (12), Deshaun Houston (11), Tyler Bennett (10) and Josh Englehart (10) -- hit double figures for the Spartans.

Simister, Ashley and Washington were all-tournament selections, as were Hernandez and teammate Dion Jackson. Lawhorn and White of Western, Jones and Finley of Las Vegas, Gaines of Clark, Cimarron's Lang, Chaparral's Matt Cox and Rancho's Dante Turner were the other area players to make the squad.