BY JIM THOMAS

Durango’s domination over the Montezuma-Cortez girls basketball team continues while Cortez’s domination over the Demon boys is over. The Panther girls lost 54-36 and the Panther boys lost 44-37 in prep hoops to their arch rival Tuesday night, Jan. 25, in Ron Wright Memorial Gym.

The Panther girls saw their record drop to 8-4 overall and 4-1 in Southwest League while boys slipped to 4-8 and 1-4. The Demon girls have defeated Cortez 13 straight games while Durango snapped a 12-game winning streak by the Panthers over them.

Durango’s Jamila Nagbee went to work on the Panthers in the third period, scoring 10 of her 19 points. The Demons went on an 8-0 run during the period to take a 36-21 lead which put the game out of reach.

After nearly two scoreless minutes to start the game, Blair Murphy scored a basket and then canned a three-pointer to five the Demons a 5-0 lead with 5:05 left. The Panthers never led in the game. Panther Annie Mortensen hit two free throws following a technical because Durango had a player’s number in the book wrong which put the Panthers close at 10-6 with 2:26 to play. They trailed 12-7 when the period ended.

Cortez made several turnovers to start the second quarter and they were getting killed on the boards. Nagbee’s lay-up put Durango up by double digits at 17-7. If the Demons happened to miss a shot, they would get second and third tries. One of the bright spots for the Panthers came with a few seconds left when Denise Newlin made a nice steal, she passed to Holly Tanner who dished to Stefanie Allison for a lay-up. Cortez trailed 27-17 at the half.

Trailing 40-25 when the third period closed, the Panthers missed several close shots and several lay-ups. Durango worked the ball well and moved well. Durango led 51-32 with 2:39 left. But the Panthers never gave up and hustled to the end.

Mortensen was the only Panther girl scoring in double digits with 12. Casey Bauer tossed in 8 and Allison 7. Joining Nagbee in the double digit column was Murphy with 12.

"It was a tough night for us rebounding but I have to give Durango a lot of credit," MCHS head girls coach Phil Baca said after the game. "They (Demons) played very physical and they played very well. They out hustled us and they basically took things to us. We weren’t our usual selves tonight and they played well so I give Durango credit for that. We played hard all the way done to the end. We will use this (loss) to our advantage and we will learn from it."

The boys took the floor next. Nick McCoola made two straight baskets which set an ominous tone. Cortez got close at 8-7 when Eric White made a fall-away. Josh Cornett put the Panthers ahead for the first time at 10-8. Cortez led 12-8 when the period ended.

Cortez went ahead 14-8 early in the second quarter. Chris Garland went hard to the hole which put Cortez up 17-10. Durango, though, came storming right back thanks to Cortez turnovers. Ben Martinez made two straight hoops which trimmed the Panther lead to 17-15. The Panthers tied it at 17-all with 3:16 and MCHS head coach Wade Mortensen needed a time out to regroup his troops. The Panthers briefly took the lead 19-17 when White canned two charity tosses. But Durango led 21-20 when the half ended.

The score was tied at 22 and Cortez led 24-22 when White hit a pair of free throws. Durango took the lead for good at 26-24 when Nick Darnell made a follow. Austin Smith gunned in a three and Darnell scored off a break-away. They led 31-26 when the quarter ended.

Marcus Mortensen drilled a three early in the fourth quarter which cut the Demon lead to 31-29. The Demons went on a tear but threes by Mike Rivas and White cut the Durango lead to 36-35 with 4:07 to play. With 3:27 left, the score was the still the same. McCoola put the Demons up 38-25. With 53 seconds showing, Cornett made a pair of free throws and Cortez trailed 38-37 but that was the Panthers’ last hurrah. Durango scored the next six consecutive points for the final difference.

White paced the Panthers with 14, Garland added 8 and Cornett 6. McCoola and Noah Rolfing scored 8 each for the Demons.

"We took care of the ball better than we have been doing but we didn’t shoot very well," coach Mortensen said after the game.

The Panther girls won two league games, Jan. 21-22, on the road. They beat Palisade in overtime 46-45 and stopped Fruita-Monument 56-51.

The score was tied in regulation 43-all. In the overtime, Waggoner picked up a loose ball and made a nice three-point play which proved to the beat the game-winner. Cortez led 25-20 at the intermission. They were outscored 12-6 in the third period and they played evenly in the fourth.

Casey Bauer scored 11, Mortensen 10, and Tanner 9 for the Panthers. Jessica Wyman led the Bulldogs with 17 and Serna Goering added 10.

"They jumped up 10-0. We chipped away at their lead. We were up 10 in the third quarter and by 20 at one point. They came back and tied it up and it went into overtime. Lindsay made a nice play and they only scored two," Baca reported.

The score was tied 14-all at the end of the first period. The Wildcats led 24-19 at the break. Fruita outscored Cortez 16-15 in the third quarter but the Panthers went to work and outpointed the Wildcats 22-11 in the final quarter to pull out the win.

Tanner led the way with 16 and Mortensen chipped in 11.

"We were down by 10 but we came back and played smart and aggressive," Baca commented.