Durango pulls out overtime thriller

By Brent Hinckley

Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 | 12:36 a.m.

Durango's boys' basketball team defeated Sierra Vista 88-84 in overtime Wednesday night, finishing in second place in the Southwest Division behind Bishop Gorman to earn a home game in the first round of the Sunset Region tournament.

"That means a lot to us," Trailblazers coach DeShawn Henry. "Obviously, this is the gym we practice in. The gym we get our shots in. so it means a lot to be able to play at home."

Sierra Vista had rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime in the game that determined second and third place in the division standings.

"They have all the tools to be a fantastic basketball team," Sierra Vista coach Kent Johnson said.

"If you're going to come into their gym and beat them in a big game like this you can't make the mistakes we make."

Despite leading much of the game, Durango (19-7, 14-2 Southwest Division) found itself trailing 83-79 with 2:36 left in overtime. That's when two Blazers seniors stepped up to give the Durango fans a performance to remember on senior night.

"Down by four with about two minutes left. That's a lot of time," Henry said. "This game was kind of fast tempo. Buckets happen quickly. So I figured if we could get a stop or get a rebound we'd have a shot."

Senior guard Dario Jokic drained a three-pointer to get the Blazers within three at the 1:52 mark. He finished with 20 points, including four three-pointers.

Durango senior guard Marcus Falley then came up with two steals that led to four consecutive points as the Trailblazers retook the lead at 86-83 with 48 seconds in the game.

"We get down by four, I see some of my players‚ faces and their heads was down," Falley said. He finished with 23 points. "I just told them to keep their heads up, we're going to win this game. Coach always says believe, 'believe' and everybody believed."

Johnson said it was his fault for not getting his team into the right offensive sets coming down the stretch.

"We were trying to get in different offense so we wouldn't have the ball sitting on top being dribbled," Johnson said "The gym was loud enough and things were going on that we didn't get the call to the kids, maybe I should have called timeout and made the call. We had the game in control up four and having the ball and I let it get away. Coaches make mistakes too and this one is all mine."

Even though they were behind much of the game, the Mountain Lions (23-6, 11-4) kept rallying. Trailing by seven points with 1:49 left in the fourth quarter, senior guard Ray Tapusoa scored eight of the team's final 12 points to get them in position to tie the game.

Taposua drove to the basket with 16 seconds left and was fouled as he made the shot, cutting the lead to 78-77 with a chance to tie.

However, his shot didn't fall to cap off what had been a difficult night for Sierra Vista from the line all game, going 10-of-28.

"It's something we work on every day and I guess we'll work on it some more. We made a couple when we had to, but still missed some when it could have iced things," Johnson said.

Falley made just one of his two free throw attempts on Durango's ensuing possession, and Sierra Vista gained possession with nine seconds.

Taposua took the ball down the court but missed the would-be tying shot. However, sophomore forward Dallin Molina put back the offensive rebound as time expired to send the game to overtime.

"We were down and the kids wouldn't quit. We asked them to put on the defensive pressure and see if we could cause some turnovers," Johnson said.

Tapusoa led Sierra Vista with 30 points, with senior guard Quinten Chow adding 21 and sophomore forward Amir Garrett scoring 14.

Sierra Vista led early in the game at 12-8, but would end the first quarter tied at 15. Durango junior Sean Jones scored 15 of his game high 32 points in the second quarter as the Blazers pulled out to a 38-32 halftime lead.

"He is a junior that is outstanding," Henry said. "He's really developed the last two years. We've been waiting for this breakout game for him."

Durango led throughout the third quarter and was up78-68 in the fourth quarter with 1:49 left to play, before Sierra Vista made its come back.

"In my opinion are they not only well coached, they are the best team in the league," Henry said. "I wasn't surprised at all. We're going down to the one minute mark and we're up 10, and I'm still sweating bullets over here."

Durango will most likely host Mojave on Feb. 17 in the first round.

"You've got a tall order," Henry said. "They have Anthony Marshall one of the best players in the state. Coach Hopkins is a great coach. Their league is really tough, so they're battled tested, maybe a little more than us. Our league is pretty tough too, so I think it'll be a pretty good game."

Sierra Vista closes out the season hosting Bonanza on Feb. 13 and will finish as the Southwest Division's No. 3 seed and open the region tournament against Palo Verde.

"The matter of fact is with Palo hosting the regional, if we were to get to state we'd have to beat them on their home floor anyway, so we'll have to do it a game earlier," Johnson said.

Brent Hinckley can be reached at 990-7822 or [email protected].