Ailing Durango breezes to win

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2000 | 9:48 a.m.

Durango's girls basketball squad took the court for Wednesday night's opening-round playoff game looking more like a M.A.S.H unit than a team with a shot to advance to the state tournament.

In street clothes and on crutches was senior point guard Danielle Boyack, the school's all-time leading scorer and the Trailblazers' emotional heart and soul. After suffering a torn ACL in last Friday's regular season finale, Boyack's prep career is over.

Next to Boyack on the bench, also with crutches at her feet, sat junior Jenna Zaugg, the Blazers' starting center and leading rebounder. Like Boyack, Zaugg tore an ACL last week and will not play again in 2000.

Rounding out Durango's list of casualties were sophomore guard Denise Davis -- another Blazer starter -- and junior center Diane Catlett, a key reserve. Davis tore tendons in her finger last week, and Catlett has been nursing a knee in recent weeks.

A team once thought to have a legitimate shot to knock off unbeaten Centennial in Friday's semifinal round now looked like a long shot even to make it that far.

Yet behind a trapping zone defense and an inspired team effort on offense, the healthy Blazers brought smiles to the faces of their fallen teammates, posting a shockingly easy 65-45 victory over visiting Cheyenne to advance in the 4A Sunset Region Tournament.

"There's probably not a lot of teams in the city that could lose three starters, three of their top four scorers and their leading rebounder and do what we did tonight," Durango coach Charles Sullivan said. "But we really thought we could win."

After starting slowly, the Trailblazers (16-11) took control of the contest midway through the second quarter, going on a 13-5 run to take a 29-16 halftime lead. From there, they maintained a double-digit lead throughout, never allowing Cheyenne within 11 points.

The Desert Shields (7-12) had fits against Durango's aggressive defense, turning the ball over 14 times in the first half and 26 times in the ballgame. Cheyenne also managed just 18-of-49 shooting from the field (37 percent).

"They shut that baseline down unbelievably," Sullivan said. "Now that's what I call a zone."

Offensively, senior Shelli Gordon slid over from her usual two-guard position into Boyack's point guard spot and did a solid job running the Trailblazer offense. She also scored a game-high 22 points and made 5-of-7 free throws in the final two minutes to ice the win.

"Shelli and Danielle have been leaders all year," Sullivan said. "They've done a lot of the motivating for this team."

Gordon also received significant help from her teammates, as all eight healthy Blazers played and contributed.

Senior Lacey Spry, normally the team's top reserve, started the contest and had a major impact, scoring nine points, grabbing 14 rebounds and coming up with six steals. Sophomore Megahn Chun also came up big for Durango, pulling down eight rebounds and making three steals to go with her five points.

Freshman Jennifer Bakotich netted 13 points for the victors, who also got eight points from Ittalia Godfrey and five from Niki Mack.

"With three starters out, I didn't know what was going to happen," Gordon said. "Danielle is a big part of this team, but everybody played their position the way we needed them to."

Friday night, the Trailblazers will take on top-ranked Centennial (28-0) at Palo Verde at 7 p.m.. The winner advances to Saturday's Sunset championship and earns an automatic berth to next week's state tournament.