Durango High School girls basketball player Claire Goodwin has racked up plenty of miles on her mom’s car striving to be a great player the last few years. Those miles and hours in the car have become wins for herself and her new team.
Goodwin, a junior guard, transferred to Durango this year from Mancos and has had a tremendous impact on the Demons’ success. Last season without Goodwin, the Demons struggled to score and relied on their defense for their success; Durango finished 10-13 overall and lost in the first round of the state playoffs.
This season, Goodwin has come into the perfect situation. Key contributors from last year’s team like Mariah Maestas, Ellie White, Lilly Fitzpatrick returned as seniors with a lot of experience and have improved their games. Goodwin has gelled so well with the group that it looks like they’ve been playing together for years.
Goodwin has added an offensive dynamic Durango didn’t have last year. She’s another ball handler the Demons can rely on; she has a great looking 3-point shot she can stretch the defense with. Goodwin uses an array of moves to get inside the paint to either finish or draw fouls. She’s not afraid to share the ball to her teammates as she’s become one of the top players on opposing teams’ scouting report.
The Demons are 14-4 overall and a top 10 team in 5A. Goodwin is leading the team in scoring with 14 points per game and is second in rebounds with 5.8 per game.
“I love the competition,” Goodwin said. “Coming from 2A (Mancos) to 5A is a big jump. The summer ball I played up in Denver was like this, so it really prepared me for this transition. I'm loving it because I’m a competitor so I like the challenge.”
Twice a week over the summer, Goodwin and her mother, Tomena Sehnert, would drive up to the Lakewood area, west of Denver, to practice with her AAU team, Colorado Premier. She played with some of the best players from Denver high schools like Highlands Ranch, Legend and Mullen.
Goodwin would travel with Colorado Premier to tournaments in Chicago and Kentucky and see some of the elite AAU teams in the country, with players going to Duke and Stanford compete. Goodwin knew she needed to play at a higher level in AAU if she wants to play college ball.
It wasn’t long ago when Goodwin didn’t know AAU was possible for her. Although she grew up in a basketball family, her older brothers didn’t play beyond high school. As a freshman, she wanted to grow as a player but didn’t know how. Then AAU coaches started reaching out during her sophomore year at Mancos High School. She received a direct message on Instagram from Colorado Premier asking if she was interested in joining the team.
At the time, Goodwin was starring for Mancos High School and she averaged over 18 PPG. Opposing 2A coaches didn’t know how to shut her down and Goodwin was ready for a challenge.
Goodwin quickly realized it would be a big commitment to join the team, miss some school and make the six-hour drive twice a week. But she was pushed by her mom to go for it. Her mom made sure she went to practice when Goodwin didn’t want to; she reminded Goodwin that if she wanted to play at the highest level she’d have to put the time and effort in. Goodwin’s mother reminded her to pick the coaches’ ears because they’re coaching at the highest level and that’s the way to get better.
“She’s very supportive,” Goodwin said about her mother. “She wants me to live my dream, even if I don't go play college. She always tells me, ‘You're growing as a person too; you're working hard. What other person does this?’ She never had that growing up, this club, AAU experience.”
While Goodwin is known as a scorer and shooter on the Demons, she had to take a different role with Colorado Premier. Her squad didn’t have a lot of height so she had to play in the post and was relied on to rebound.
The role she had on Colorado Premier made her work harder and appreciate post players more. Now on Durango, she is a great rebounder from the guard position on the offensive and defensive glass.
Whether as a scorer at Mancos or as a role-playing rebounder on Colorado Premier, Goodwin is ready to change her role on the Demons depending on the game. She knows if she’s not hot, her teammates will be and she’s ready to be a passer or defender to help the team win.
Whatever role she plays, Goodwin prides herself on being a leader. It’s one of her favorite parts of the game and she thinks it’s her greatest strength.
“She’s an incredibly positive, vocal, encouraging and intense leader,” Durango head coach Lauren Moran said. “She competes really hard every single day in practice but in a way where she’s still having fun while encouraging others to come along with her.”
Goodwin knows there’s always room to improve and she’s been working on her defense since the summer. She admits she was slow on defense when she was at Mancos and it became apparent when she played AAU up in Denver. She’s worked on getting to the basket and finishing instead of relying on the 3-pointer.
After she played volleyball at Mancos, Goodwin stopped this year so she could train at Mountain Range Fitness in Cortez with Jarrod and Colette Wyatt in the fall. Even during the season, Goodwin goes up to Denver to train with trainer Jody Hollins.
Dedicated to her goal of playing at the next level, Goodwin will play with the Utah Lady Prospects this summer. She said there will be more opportunities for her with some trips to South Carolina and Texas.
Goodwin’s dream school is Division I Brigham Young University in Utah. She’s received interest from Division I schools like Utah Valley University, Southern Utah University, Northern Arizona University and Division II schools like Colorado Mesa. Goodwin said she loves Utah and Arizona and would love to go to college in either of those states.
Before she changes AAU teams or achieves her dream of playing college basketball, Goodwin and the Demons are focused on the state playoffs. If all goes well, Tomena and Goodwin could be driving some more miles to Denver for the state final four.
“We all want to prove ‘the upper level teams’ up in Denver wrong,” Goodwin said. “They think they're so good and too good for these small towns. I feel like we all want to prove them wrong and beat them.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
