Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004 | 9:32 a.m.
When Bishop Gorman comes around, the atmosphere at Durango High School's gym becomes more like Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke University than another cookie-cutter Clark County venue.
Students from both sides wore their schools' colors, painted their faces and bodies, and stood up and chanted through the duration of what is the Southwest Division's most intense rivalry in boys' basketball.
Bishop Gorman was able to hold off a 17-4 second-half run by Durango to win 59-54. Gorman guard Kashif Watson hit two free throws with five seconds left to seal the win.
C.J. Portz's dunk opened up an 18-10 Gaels lead late in the first quarter, and Portz scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half as Gorman built a 38-19 advantage.
Durango was plagued by bad shots, turnovers and fouls in the first half. The Trailblazers turned the ball over on three of their first four possessions.
"We don't have a lot of game experience yet," Durango coach Al LaRocque said. "We have to play more games and practice to get better by the end of December."
In the second half it looked like the teams switched jerseys. Durango came out hitting four of its first seven shots to cut the lead to 38-27 with 5:40 left to play in the quarter.
Durango's Andre McFarland, who transferred from Gorman after ninth grade, cut the Gaels' lead to 38-29 with 1:37 to play in the third. McFarland had 17 of his 21 points in the second half, and had eight rebounds in the game.
"He's a great player," Gorman coach Grant Rice said. "He did a great job on us."
Gorman didn't score in the third quarter until Marcus Lawrence hit a jumper with 2.6 seconds remaining. The shot ended an 11-0 Durango run.
"We tried to come out strong in the second half, but we came out slow," Watson said. "There was not enough rhythm."
Watson led the Gaels with 18 points and four rebounds.
Durango trimmed the lead to five when Darryl Kelley drove through the lane for an easy lay-up with 2:57 left to play. Watson converted two free throws with 2:05 left in regulation to give Gorman a 51-42 lead.
"We have to start putting two halves together," Lawrence said. "We usually have one good half and one bad one."
Durango pulled to within four after a layup by McFarland, and four missed free throws down the stretch helped keep the Blazers in the game. Eric Taylor's 3-pointer with 34.5 seconds remaining cut Gorman's lead to 55-52 with 34.5 seconds remaining.
"I don't know if we came out better or if Gorman came out flat," LaRocque said.
Watson was fouled in a series of traded fouls, and went to the line with Gorman up 57-54. He nailed both shots to seal the 59-54 Gorman win.
"Good teams get points and are able to win games," Lawrence said.
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