Mancos boys

Mancos boys, girls sweep SJBL games from Dove Creek

Jan. 22, 2002

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Mancos High School boys and girls were big winners during the opening weekend of Class 2A San Juan Basin League basketball play on Saturday, Jan. 26. Mancos girls dropped Dolores County 55-36 and Mancos boys won 64-45 in games played in the Mancos Peformance Center.

Dolores boys also won a toughie over Norwood, winning 81-75. No word was received concerning the Dolores girls.

Dove Creek girls opened the first quarter by taking a 5-0 lead thanks to a basket by Shandra Johnson and another by Erin Fury plus a free throw by Teresa Martin. Kassi Paxton hit one of two free throws which put the DCHS lead to 7-6 with 1 minute, 29 seconds to play. DCHS made several steals through the first period, but could not finish. Jolene Thomas put the Blue Jays up 8-7 but Johnson came back with a layup to give the Bulldogs a 9-8 lead when the first period closed.

Johnson’s layup underneath gave DCHS an 11-8 advantage. Mancos pulled within 11-10 when DCHS head coach Jim Buffington called a 30-second time-out. Martin scored on a give-and-go but Cambria Hanson tied the score at 13-all. The Bulldogs soon found themselves in foul trouble. Johnson had to sit on the bench with three fouls early in the period. Katie Paxton made a putback to put MHS up 15-13. After Hanson gave the Jays a 17-13 with 1:58 left, Chelsea Cook came back and nailed a three to pull DCHS within a point at 17-16. The game was tied at 18-18. With 5.6 seconds showing, Jori Yeomans gave Mancos the lead at 20-18 at the half.

"We talked about a few things we weren’t doing in the first half that we corrected in the second half. No.1 we talked about decreasing our turnovers. We did not attack the basket in the first half," MHS head girls coach Kevin Dimmick remarked after the game. "They (DCHS) played hard against us and you have to give them credit. They came out and played hard and they thought they were going to win."

Katie Paxton made a steal and layup which put Mancos ahead 22-18 to start the third quarter. Martin canned a three from the top of the key which knotted the score at 24. Johnson picked up her fourth foul and Martin her third. Prentael Coker gave DCHS a 26-25 lead but a few minutes later Mancos was on top 30-26 at the 2:50 mark. Rachel Russell made a putback which put MHS up 32-26 with 1:22 on the clock. Katie Paxton’s layup at the buzzer gave Mancos a 37-28 lead.

Johnson made a nice baseline drive for a bucket which made the score 39-30 but that was about as close as the Bulldogs got the rest of the game. Hanson scored underneath for a 47-32 score with 2:45 left in the fourth. Katie Paxton made a backdoor layup to put MHS ahead 51-32 with 1:45 showing. Fury made tow of three foul shots but DCHS trailed 55-36 with 12.2 seconds remaining. That would be the final points of the game.

"We also got some added help tonight that we did not get in our last game (loss to Ignacio). We spread out the scoring a little bit," Dimmick added.

Katie Paxton led all scorers with 23. Hanson tossed in 8 and Yeomans 7. Martin, who fouled out, paced DCHS with 9 while Fury added 8.

"This is a big improvement from the first game we played," Buffington remarked after the game. "We are still having hard times with important concepts like defensively watching the ball, and leaving a girl open. We just have some things we have to work on a little longer. We took the ball to the whole well but we did not finish. We do some good things but we don’t finish them off. We put pressure out front but they got some backdoor layups on us."

DCHS led 1-0 very early in the first quarter against Mancos during the boys’ game. But when Travis Clark completed an old-fashioned three-point play, Mancos was up 9-3 and never looked back. Mancos increased its lead to 14-8 when first-year DCHS coach Ty Gray called time-out with 2:25 left. Clark made one of two free throws which gave the Blue Jays a 15-9 lead at the end of the quarter.

Bulldog Dallas Coker made a layup off a fastbreak which cut the Mancos lead to 19-11. Preston Hennrich canned a 12-foot jumper for a 23-14 advantage. Bulldog Lyle Joe, though, banged home a three for a 23-17 score. Mancos’ press forced several turnovers which the Jays converted into points. As a result, the Jays increased their lead to 32-17 at the half.

Jessy Rippee tossed in a trey for the Bulldogs, but Mancos still was way out front 38-20 with 6:14 remaining in the third quarter. Ryan Shepherd converted a three-point play which put MHS up 41-20 with 6:03 left. A few seconds later Kelly Smith made a steal and layup to put MHS up 45-22. Joe hit a three from the wing a few second before the end of the third quarter. Mancos led 49-28.

Brandon Neely gunned in a three to open the third quarter for the Bulldogs. DCHS’ D.J. Ford made two free throws at 5:55 but MHS still held a 53-35 lead. Clark made tip-in for a 57-39 lead with 2:40 to go. Mancos led 61-42 with 2:01 to play. Nick Rubino’s layup underneath put Mancos up 63-43 with just under a minute to play.

"We did pretty well moving the ball on offense but in the fourth quarter we got a little sloppy," MHS boys head coach Gary Hill remarked. "I think we are playing better defense right now than we have been playing. They are catching on to what we are trying to teach them. They are playing our matchup a little more aggressively. Our press is creating a lot of problems for people. The kids are pretty active with it. Once we get moving with it it will hurt a little of people."

The Jays got balanced scoring. Clark led the way with 17, Kyle Yeomans added 13, Smith 11, and Shepherd 10. Pierce led DCHS with 9.

Dolores was outscored by the Mavericks 26-17 after the first period of play. The Bears, though, got good offensive play and solid defensive play in the second quarter. The Bears led 46-37 at the half. After DHS outpointed Norwood 17-15 in the third quarter, Norwood made a run at Dolores in the fourth but it wasn’t enough. Norwood outscored Dolores 23-18 in the final stanza.

The Bears got balanced scoring. Cullen Zion led the way by popping in 25 while Aeson Reed hit for 14, Kevin Fane 13, Devin Perkins 10, and Waylon Bennett 9.

Mancos hosts Nucla in a key league game this Friday night, Jan. 25. They travel to league-mate Norwood for a contest on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 26. DCHS hosts Dolores Friday at Ron Wright Memorial Gym in Cortez and then travels to Nucla on Saturday. Dolores hosts Telluride on Saturday.