As summer continues and high school sports are more than a month away, it’s a good time to look back at this past high school year for Durango High School athletes.
This is the second installment of this series. The first installment was on the best spring sports performances from the 2023-2024 school year and can be found here.
The highlight of the winter sports season was the Durango hockey team winning its first state championship in school history. After starting 2-5, the Demons finished the regular season 11-6 and earned the No.4 seed in the 4A state tournament bracket.
Durango then outscored its three playoff opponents 16-4 which culminated in a 4-2 win over Summit in the championship game on March 5.
Just like in the first installment of this series, each team will be awarded a top performance from one of its athletes and also a runner-up best performance for each team.
Hockey: Luka Remec’s performance against Cheyenne Mountain
Durango hockey head coach Brian Ensign made a lot of great moves this past winter in his last season as head coach. His best move might have come at the start of the playoffs.
In the regular season, Ensign deployed both junior Luka Remec and junior Evan Brock who split time throughout the year. But in the playoffs, Ensign went with Remec and the move paid off.
Remec had an incredible performance in the first round of the state playoffs. He had 33 saves and only allowed one goal in the Demons’ first-round 6-1 win over Cheyenne Mountain.
This game helped Durango get off to a good start in the playoffs and Remec was an essential part of the Demons’ state championship run. Although Durango will have a new coach and some offensive weapons will have graduated, Remec will be a key part of the Demons’ title defense next season.
Runner-up: Brady Holbrook’s performance against Pueblo County
Senior forward Brady Holbrook was one of Durango’s top offensive performers throughout last hockey season and finished second on the team with 14 goals, tied for second with 12 assists and tied first with 26 points.
Holbrook was a big part of Durango’s 7-0 win at Pueblo County. Holbrook finished with three goals and an assist in a game which only helped with the team’s momentum heading into the playoffs.
Girls basketball: Mariah Maestas’ performance against Grand Junction
The Durango girls basketball team had an up-and-down season which could blamed on injuries up and down the roster.
It seemed like every game the Demons were fielding a new starting five because of a different player injured. Junior guard Mariah Maestas was the one constant. She was the only player to play all 23 games and she ran the team as the point guard after junior guard Tyler Trujillo got injured and missed most of the season.
Maestas did most of the ball handling, distributing and was one of the few players who could create her own shot.
On Jan. 20, Maestas showed off her shot-making skills and had a season-high 29 points in a 46-38 road win at Grand Junction.
In a state that doesn’t have a high school shot clock, it’s an incredible feat for a player to have 29 out of their team’s 46 points. What’s even more incredible is she didn’t make a single 3-pointer and was 7-14 from the free-throw line.
Any league game was a big league game in the Demons’ season since they were on the cutline for the playoffs for most of the year. It was a huge performance for Maestas. She has the skills to do it again but hopefully, she won’t have to with the depth of talent returning for Durango.
Runner-up: Tyler Trujillo’s performance against Discovery Canyon
Trujillo only played seven games for the Demons before her season ended with an injury. Her play was missed later in the season. Trujillo’s ball handling would’ve helped the Demons with some of the turnover issues they had.
Before she got hurt, Trujillo had a great performance against Discovery Canyon on Dec. 7 in the Demons’ 47-32 win. Trujillo finished with 21 points on 8-15 shooting from the field including 4-9 from 3-point range.
It was an important early game for the Demons as they had lost to Farmington two days earlier by 26.
Trujillo and Maestas are key parts of a strong rising senior class along with Lilly Fitzpatrick, Ellie White and others who should help Durango have a strong 2024-2025 season.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
