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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.