Sharp shooting trio leads Desert Oasis girls to first-ever win over Durango

Desert Oasis’ girls basketball team went into Thursday’s game against league rival Durango with an 0-for-4 mark on the brief, all-time series.

But as the old adage goes, there’s a first time for everything.

The Diamondbacks used a balanced attack from the sharpshooting trio of guards Auburn Smith, Sammi Tso and Tatiana Kearn, as well as a stifling defensive effort, to grab a 48-37 road victory over the Trailblazers.

“I can’t believe how good it feels to get this win out of the way,” Desert Oasis coach Laurie Evans said. “This was definitely a tough game that we were looking forward to, and it was a huge win for us.”

The Diamondbacks (7-5, 2-2 Southwest) opened the game on an 8-0 run, before Durango answered with a 10-0 spurt that gave the Trailblazers their only lead of the game.

“We don’t have that killer instinct yet,” Evans said. “We’re young and so if we get a lead, we get excited and get content with it rather than keep on pushing.”

Kearn scored all 10 of her points in the first half, helping Desert Oasis to a 23-18 lead at the break. Durango (7-8, 2-2) made just 4-of-19 field goals in the first half.

Kearn and Smith teamed up for the daunting assignment of defending Trailblazer guard Amanda Boucher, but the duo never let the Durango senior find an offensive rhythm and held her to six points.

“We knew that she (Boucher) was a good all-around player and a great shooter,” Smith said. “We came with our game faces on and we made sure to be on her tight and stop her from scoring.”

Durango came out strong in the second half, winning the third quarter 11-6 to cut Desert Oasis’ lead to 31-29.

After a 3-pointer on the right wing by Durango’s Marley Sandoval with 4:42 left, Desert Oasis called a time out, and Durango implemented a full-court press. The Diamondbacks seemed to welcome the quick pace brought on by the new defense and responded with an 11-3 rally to put the game away.

“It’s smart to press a young team, but luckily we did a good job in handling it to go on that run,” Evans said.

Smith finshed with a game-high 12 points, Tso added nine, and Trini Morgan supplied eight points and 11 rebounds for the Diamondbacks.

Sandoval led Durango with eight points.