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Dec. 16, 2000 BY JIM THOMAS
AZTEC, N.M. — It is always nice to pick up a road win, let alone the first win of the season. The Mancos High School varsity boys basketball team did exactly that with an easy 73-40 win over Aztec JVs Thursday night, Dec. 14, in Lillywhite Gym. "They’re doing a lot better," MHS head coach Gary Hill said immediately following the game. "The kids did a good job on defense. We scored a lot of transition baskets. This group has the athletic abilities to press and push the ball up and down the court." Mancos worked the ball well inside all night against the young Tigers. The Blue Jays got layup after layup. Gary Baker made a lean-in which tied the score at 2-2 early in the first period. The score was tied 4-4. Mancos then went on a 12-0 run to take a 16-4 lead. Mancos pressed and Aztec committed turnovers. An old-fashioned three-point play by Ryan Shepherd put the Jays up 16-4. But Aztec rallied when Nick Adamson canned two straight three-point goals. But Bill Baker answered right back with a three. Mancos led 19-10 when the first period ended. Clint Hill made a set shot for a three to start the second quarter. A pair of layups by Jesse Rousset allowed the Jays to double up the Tigers at 28-14. Mancos continued applying the pressure defense and Aztec continued to make turnovers. The Jays soon led 32-16 with 3:29 to play after Aztec called time out. MHS led 42-23 at the intermission. Baker made an old-fashioned three-point play which put the Jays up 47-25. Rousset went to the hole and Mancos was up 53-26. Hill’s three-pointer put MHS up 63-28 just before the third period ended. The Jays’ defense was so good that Aztec did not score a field goal the whole period. Adamson scored a pair of threes in the fourth quarter and Tony Mauer made a basket for Aztec. Kyle Yeomans, Nick Rubino, Kelly Smith, Baker, and Rousset all scored baskets for Mancos during the rather uneventful quarter. "I thought Jesse played an outstanding game for us underneath. Bill made some very good passes and some nice baskets," coach Hill said. Baker led all scorers with 21 while Rousset was right behind him with 20. Smith fouled out but score 8 while Hill and Travis Clark each chipped in 6. Adamson paced the Tigers with 16. Dolores County boys and girls also played Thursday night. Both teams won, the DCHS boys winning 65-49 and the girls 47-44. In the girls’ game, it was close the whole game. In fact, the score was tied at 42-all late in the game but the Bulldogs scored 5 and Ridgway 2 over the final few minutes of play. Dove Creek led 9-5 after the first quarter and held a slim 20-18 lead at the break. They had a good third quarter by pumping in 18 while holding Ridgway to 12. Ridgway outscored DCHS 14-9 in the fourth. "It was close all the way," DCHS head girls’ coach Kim Young said. "We got off to a slow start offensively but we played well in the second and third quarters. We played very good defense, especially in the fourth." Rachel Hightower and Ann Fury both scored 18 while Ann Ivie chipped in 8. The Bulldogs received some good news about senior Krystal Neely who had a severly sprained ankle. It was feared she had broken it, but that proved negative. She could be ready to go in three to four weeks, perhaps being ready by San Juan Basin League time. The Dove Creek boys led 18-15 after the first quarter and was up 38-28 at the half. Ridgway came back in the third quarter by outpointing them 13-9 but DCHS responded in the fourth by outscoring the host team 18-8. The key was the Bulldogs 14-18 free throw shooting in the fourth quarter. Keith Pierce led all scorers with 27 while Dallas Coker gunned in 16 for the Bulldogs. "They ran a half-court trap almost the entire game except they went to a man late in the game," DCHS head coach Scott Crawford commented. "We made some silly turnovers but for the most part we beat the trap. It was nice to see the kids knock down some shots." The Bulldogs have ended the 2000 portion of the schedule and will not play again until the first weekend of the 21st Century in January. "It was nice to get a win before Christmas and our break," he added. "After taking the weekend off, we will practice Tuesday-Friday next week and then be off until after New Year’s," Crawford said. The Blue Jays, 1-2 overall, will open play Tuesday night, Dec. 19, against Ignacio at 7:15 p.m. in the Mancos Performance Center. They will play again Dec. 22 against Montezuma-Cortez High School JVs and Farmington High JVs on Dec. 23 to conclude the round-robin event. The Blue Jays girls also will play just prior to the boys each of those evenings (see related article on the classic). Dolores girls continue to look impressive with an easy 71-32 win over San Juan High (Blanding, Utah) varsity Tuesday night, Dec. 12. The Bears improved to 4-0 under new head coach Rob Mellott. The run-and-gun Bears jumped out to a commanding 27-4 lead after the first period of play and led 39-8 at the intermission. Dolores outscored their opponent 20-12 in the third quarter while the teams tied at 12 each in the final period. But by that point, Mellott was playing his reserves. Nearly every Bear scored. Jennifer Trevillian and Amber Simmons each scored 14. Joni Everett, Amanda Cross, and Tracy Everett added 8 each. Trevillian also dished out 7 assists and she even had four rebounds from her point position. Cross picked up 8 rebounds and Joni Everett 7 boards. The Bears, both boys and girls, will play a rare Monday night game (Dec. 18) at home against Shiprock, N.M. The girls will tip off around 6 p.m. and the boys immediately following. In other prep basketball action today, Dec. 16, MCHS boys are at the Navajo Generating Station Tournament (third game) in Page, Ariz., while the girls are competing at the Tiger Invitational in Aztec. The Dolores County girls are at the Piedra Vista Tournament in Farmington. |
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