Durango’s La Rocque puts away foes with long-range game

Swagger can be a dangerous beast, once the shots start falling.

Sure, Lindy La Rocque missed her first few 3-pointers. But then one fell. And another. And another.

La Rocque’s swagger came and stayed and the Paramount (Calif.) girls basketball team could do nothing as Durango (11-1) won 63-37 in the second day of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic at Centennial High.

The strut is visible: Starting with the nonchalant movement down the court, moving to the shrug of her shoulders, to the flick of the wrist that leads to the culmination of it all.

A swish and a saunter back down the court.

Eleven swishes on 3-pointers alone against Paramount for La Rocque, after putting up 26 points — and seven 3s — in the Trailblazers’ 54-35 win over Silverado earlier in the day.

“I make a couple in a row, and I kinda become unconscious,” La Rocque said. “I have to keep shooting it. Even the ones I missed were in and out.”

The ones she missed — and made — came from all over the court. A 25-foot jumper ended the first quarter, giving her four in eight minutes. Over a three-minute span in the third quarter, La Rocque popped a 25-footer, a 23-footer while drawing a foul and a 21-foot shot.

“I’ve never had any player in my life that could do that with that kind of range — guy or girl,” Trailblazers coach John Bartleson said. “Now, there’s times she takes those and I’m like, ‘What is she doing?’ But when she makes those, what can I say? It’s a Catch-22 for me.”

• Peninsula (Calif.) 59, Valley 24 — The Vikings struggled early on the offensive end and Peninsula pulled away.

Vanessa Corona had eight points to lead Valley, which trailed 28-9 at the half.

• Fairfax (Calif.) 62, Coronado 38 — Despite 20 points from Danielle Boyle, including four 3-pointers, the Cougars couldn’t overcome a rough 16-minute stretch.

Fairfax outscored Coronado 43-14 over the second and third quarters.

• Green Valley 63, Pahrump Valley 32 — A 23-point second-quarter outburst fueled Green Valley to the win as three players scored in double figures.

Jazmine Jarvis scored 17 points for the Gators, Sarah Pickus had 16 and Victoria Naylor added 14.

Megan Meads led Pahrump with 13 points.

• Palo Verde 49, Elko 36 — Hayley Henderson scored 13 points, Brittany Stanley 11 and Mikala Pride 10 as the Panthers withstood a second-quarter run by Elko.

• Centennial 72, Douglas 37 — A 20-4 second quarter gave the Bulldogs more than enough momentum.

Alexis Byrd had 17 points for Centennial and Johnna Brown added 11.

• Galena 58, Chaparral 18 — Chaparral scored just two points in the first quarter as Galena built a 24-point lead.

Galena led 38-9 at the half.

• Highland (Ariz.) 71, Palo Verde 42 — Mikala Pride’s 20 points were not enough as a two-point second quarter ultimately doomed the Panthers.

• Centennial 107, Eagle River (Alaska) 30 — The Bulldogs took it easy in the second half and still outscored Eagle River 43-14.

Centennial had five players in double-figure scoring, led by Rashawanda Gray with 20 points.

• Elko 69, Coronado 43 — Taylor Altenburg had 27 points for Elko, while Danielle Boyle led Coronado with nine points.

• St. Thomas More (La.) 45, Green Valley 40 — St. Thomas More bottled up the Gators’ offense, holding star Victoria Naylor to just six points.

Sarah Pickus had a big game for Green Valley with 16 points and Jazmin Jarvis added 11.

• Douglas 53, Valley 28 — Jessica Waggoner scored 26 points to lead Douglas.

Rachael Zimmerman had eight points for Valley in the loss.