It was one of the toughest fields in years for the boys’ side of the seventh annual Blue Jay Classic Basketball Tournament. But the host Mancos High School boys had no problems in winning the event with three straight victories in the Mancos Performance Center.

Granted, it took a last-second prayer three-pointer to be answered in order to beat Farmington High JVs Saturday night, Dec. 23. The Jays beat the young Scorpions 71-70.

"It was crazy," MHS coach Gary Hill reported. "They (Scorps) were stalling (with a 70-68 lead). We fouled and they missed both free throws. Bill (Baker) got the rebound and took it down court. He was supposed to throw to Kyle (Yeomans) in the corner but Yeomans had to come up. Kyle got the ball and looked at the basket and drilled a 30-footer at the buzzer."

The game score seesawed back and forth all game.

"It was nip-and-tuck all the way. They would pull ahead and then we would catch up. We would go ahead and they would catch up. In the third quarter we were beginning to build a nice lead and then we started making silly mistakes and we let them get back in it. In the fourth quarter, they took the lead but the kids didn’t get rattled and battled back," Hill noted.

The score was tied at the end of the first period at 13. Farmington held a slight 36-34 lead at the half. Mancos outscored Farmington 16-13 in the third quarter and both teams popped in 21 in the fourth.

Baker led all scorers with 19 points, Jesse Rousset added 18, and Travis Clark 14. Baker and Rousset were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Mancos beat a good Montezuma-Cortez High School JV team Friday night, Dec. 22, 68-56.

The Blue Jays made a big run on Cortez to open the first quarter by running out to an 14-0 lead. Baker made a steal and a lay up which put MHS up 11-0 and then came right back seconds later with a three-pointer. Cortez did come back some but MHS led 16-7 when the quarter ended.

FHS and MHS battled more closely in the second quarter. Cortez’ Jeff Anderson, who plays some for the varsity, nailed a pair of free throws which cut Mancos’ lead to 19-11. But less than a minute later after Baker and Kelley Smith both canned threes, Mancos was leading 28-14. Kirk Archibeque and Kyle Chandler both made threes just before the period ended for MCHS. Mancos led 34-24 at the half.

MCHS charged back and pulled within four points at 36-32. Smith made a nice finger roll for a basket underneath which put MHS up 42-34. But Billy Innis made three straight free throws when he was fouled beyond the three-point line which pulled the Panthers close at 46-40 with 2:25 to play. Mancos led 46-45 at the end of the third quarter.

MHS suddenly went on an 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter and MCHS could never catch up.

Baker poured in 24 and Rousset 18 while Yeomans and Smith tossed in 8 each. Devin Perkins paced MCHS with 24 while Anderson added 11.

"We played pretty good defense most of the game," Hill said following the contest. "I thought we showed a lot of maturity in not letting up when they got within a point at the end of the third quarter. But definitely our play, both offensively and defensively, in the first and fourth quarter was the difference. Good things happen when you work hard in practice and then use it on the court."

The Mancos girls won 49-46 over FHS JVs Saturday night to go into the holidays with a win.

"It was close the whole game," MHS head coach Kevin Dimmick reported. "But we were behind most of the game. They started making some turnovers and we pulled ahead with just about a minute to go. We led by only one point with a few seconds left but we hung on."

Dimmick cited the play of Kerri Morgan, Amanda Kennedy, and Katie Paxton. Morgan was named to the All-Tournament Team.

On Friday night, MCHS took on Durango JVs but came up short 56-43.

Mancos took a 16-10 at the end of the first quarter and looked like it was going to have an easy time with the young Demons. Morgan scored six of her 16 points and Paxton scored six of her 14 during the quarter.

But things suddenly went south in the second quarter when Mancos, which had trouble the night before with turnovers, started making passing mistakes. Magan Avery put DHS on top 21-20 for the first time. The score was tied at 21 for a little bit and then DHS started pressing and outscored MHS 9-2. The Demons led 30-23 at the half.

At times, Dimmick would substitute a whole unit for the starting five because they were not playing defense and would making mistakes while on offense. Just before the end of the period, Kennedy made a follow following a miss which kept it close at 38-35 in favor of Durango when the third quarter ended.

MHS continued to make passing mistakes and playing matador type defense. Durango also hit shot after shot during the fourth period.