By Jim Thomas

KIRTLAND, N.M. — Playing in a pair of holiday tournaments, both the Montezuma-Cortez High School girls and boys varsity basketball teams learned a lot about themselves.

Both team members will work hard for a few days and then from Christmas Day through New Year’s Day take some time out off the court and reflect what they have learned to this point (and accomplished) and get ready to focus on what lies ahead — league play, District tournament and possibly Regionals and/or State. According to Colorado High School Activities Association rules, winter sports athletes can not hold any organized practice with a coach present during that time.

The girls are coming off a second-place finish at the annual Lady Bronco Girls Basketball Tournament. They defeated Bloomfield, N.M. 1 61-35 Thursday night, Dec. 17, (results in Saturday’s paper) and then upset Kirtland-Central 1 (varsity) 56-44 Friday night, Dec. 18, but turned right around and lost to Kirtland-Central II (junior varsity) 61-48 Saturday night, Dec. 19. The Panther girls are 4-2 heading into the holiday break.

"The loss (against K-C 2) came at a good time in the season and we are going to use it to our advantage," MCHS head girls coach Phil Baca said after the championship game.

The boys, meanwhile, played two close games but lost all three at the Navajo Generating Station Boys Basketball Tournament at Page, Ariz. They fell to host Page 54-43 the first game, lost to Monument Valley, Ariz. 53-47, in overtime the second game, and lost 68-33 Cheyenne of Las Vegas, Nev., to finish in eighth place. The boys are 2-4 heading into the break.

The Panthers led from start to finish against the defending New Mexico Class 3A State Champion K-C 1 team. A three-point goal by Annie Mortensen put Cortez up 5-1 with 6:48 on the clock. A lay-up by Casey Bauer a few minutes later and the Panthers were up 9-1 when Danny Scoggins (former Ouray head coach) called time out. The Panthers were working the ball well inside. Lindsay Waggoner gave Cortez a 13-3 advantage when she made an easy lay-up. Cortez led 17-8 when the quarter ended.

Cortez employed a three-quarter press in the second period which seemed to stymie the Broncos. Holly Tanner stole the ball at mid-court and made a lay-up and a free throw which put Cortez up 24-15 with 4:35 on the clock. Kirtland was not making very good passes and the Panthers took advantage of the situation. Kirtland’s Jaimey Tanner popped in a three which cut the difference to 26-18. Cortez hustled well during the period. Waggoner made an old-fashioned three-point play with 58 seconds left for a 29-18 lead. Cortez led 26-23 at the half.

Cortez continued to hustle and outplay Kirtland. On the Panther’s first possession of the third quarter Denise Newlin made a backdoor lay-up. Newlin then stole an in-bounds pass and made a lay-up to put Cortez up 35-23. A few minutes later Newlin, on an assist from Tanner, put Cortez up 42-33. Cortez led 44-35 when the quarter ended.

The Panthers still held their 44-35 lead with 6:23 remaining. Cortez settled back into a tight zone and packed the inside. Kirtland was forced to shoot some outside shots which they missed. Newlin made a nice driving lay-up which put the Panthers ahead 51-37 at which time K-C called time out. Kirtland’s Nadia Begay made a three-point goal at 2:18 cutting Cortez’ lead to 52-40. Both teams would score four points apiece the remainder of the game.

The Panthers got balanced scoring. Waggoner led the way with 12, Tanner and Newlin added 11 each, and Bauer had 9. Begay led K-C 1 with 12.

"We made them turn the ball over and we got a lot of lay-ups," he said.

Cortez then advanced to the championship game against K-C 2. K-C 2 upset Pagosa Springs, and defeated Show Low, Ariz., in overtime to advance to the showdown.

The Panthers dug themselves a hole right away, trailing 4-0 with 5:23 on the clock in the first period. Tanner cut the difference to 4-2 with a steal and a lay-up. Cary Moone’s lay-up put the Broncos ahead 9-4 mid-way in the first. Cortez went on a scoring draught. They trailed 11-4 when Baca called time. Cortez trailed 17-8 when the period ended.

Tanner made two free tosses which cut the score 19-10 with 6:46 on the clock. At that point Cortez made a run at K-C. Mortensen made a lay-up and a free throw which made the score 19-15 with 5:26 left. Newlin connected on a baseline shot which trimmed the difference to 19-17. But then Gwen Palmer made a three and Moone muscled in a shot which gave the Broncos a 22-18 lead. K-C 2 led 26-22 at the half.

The Broncos opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run. Cortez’ Stefanie Allison stopped the rally as she made two straight baskets. Cortez started pressing the Broncos. They kept the score close but still trailed 39-31 with 2:34 to play. Cortez trailed 43-34 when the period ended.

Cortez continued to hustle, never giving up. Andrea Derrick made a lay-up off an in-bounds pass. Newlin connected on a three-point goal at 5:45 remaining which made the score 47-39. K-C’s Joletta Atcitty made the score 49-39. Kirtland outscored Cortez 18-14 in the final period.

The Panthers could not stop K-C’s outstanding freshman Kim Simpson who gunned in 25 points. Moone finished with 18. Both Simpson and Moone normally play for the varsity. Mortensen led the Panthers with 12, Kelli Unrein scored 11, and Newlin 9.

"We couldn’t force them to turn the ball over. They had a well-designed game plan and it was effective. We didn’t really get much off our press all night. We really didn’t talk about pressure.

Tanner, Waggoner, and Mortensen were chosen to the All-Tournament Team as voted by the coaches. Simpson was named the MVP.

"I don’t think we were overconfident (knowing they were playing a JV team), but I don’t think we were ready to play," Baca commented. "We talked a little after the game last night there is that natural tendency to have a letdown. But there was nothing to let down about because we were playing a junior varsity that is better than many varsity teams. There are probably 40 or 50 kids walking around this campus who couldn’t make these teams who probably could play for another other varsity. There was a mental letdown but we played physically hard."

How does Baca feel going to the holiday break?

"I feel good. From our opener on Dec. 3 we have improved quite a bit. There are a lot of things we are doing better. We are so much better in our half-court set. The girls are 4-2 and they are learning and doing what I ask of them," he said.

Cortez opened the NGS Tournament by playing host Page. The teams played nip-and-tuck the first quarter with Page holding a 16-14 advantage. It was a defensive struggle in the second period. Page led 23-20 at the half.

Page outpointed the Panthers 15-10 in the third period and 16-13 in the final quarter. Cortez had problems stopped Adam Griffin who scored 14 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. Page ended up winning the tournament.

Eric White led the Panthers with 14 while Marcus Mortensen added 9, and Josh Cornett 8.

The Panther boys played the second game against Monument Valley and it turned into a defensive battle in the first quarter. Chris Garland managed 4 of Cortez’ 6 points in the period. Monument Valley scored only a basket. Neither team could develop much of an offensive rhythm in the second period. White scored 7 points during that time. The score was tied 19-all at the half.

Both teams stepped it up in the third quarter but the Panthers were outscored 17-10. Kevin Tallman and Brandon Lincoln each popped in threes for Monument Valley. Cortez outscored Monument Valley 15-10 in the final quarter. The score was tied 44 all at the end of regulation. In the overtime period, Monument Valley outscored Cortez 9-3 in the overtime.

White led the Panthers with 14, Garland added 11, and Mortensen 7. Troy Watson scored 14 while Shawn Yazzie and Bert Jones added 10 each for Monument Valley.

Cortez probably came out a little flat against Cheyenne on Saturday. They outscored Cortez 19-7 in the first quarter. Cheyenne outscored Cortez 17-6 in the second period. The Panthers were outpointed 18-8 in the third but they played evenly in the fourth, both scoring 12.

White led the Panthers with 11 and Mortensen added 9. Chris Hall scored 12 and Omar Rhoden 10 for Cheyenne.

"It was a good tournament," MCHS head boys coach Wade Mortensen said. "The teams were good and it was a well-balanced tournament. Except for our last game, no team had won by more than 12 points in the rest of the games."

"Page beat us in the first round, but if we had taken care of the ball we could have beaten them. We lost to Monument Valley in overtime the second night. We had some turnovers down the stretch. So, two of the three games were right there and we could’ve won. It was a good tournament for us in respect that we played very good defense."

Coach Mortensen sees the team can use more improvement in some areas. He said he hopes that during the break they take time themselves to reflect on the first half of the season and what they’ve learned and to focus on the second half of the season.