Area basketball teams to open league play this weekend

Area basketball teams to open league play this weekend

Jan. 11, 2001

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

It is now time to make the main push to that goal of playing (and winning) at the state basketball tournament. But first thing is first. League play begins this weekend for most of the area high school varsity boys and girls basketball teams.

The Class 4A Montezuma-Cortez High School girls and boys open Southwestern League play at home this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12-13, by hosting Fruita-Monument (Class 5A) beginning at 6 p.m. Friday and then hosting Central of Grand Junction (Class 5A) at noon Saturday in Ron Wright Memorial Gym.

The Panther girls, who are coming off a good nonconference schedule are 3-6 overall under first-year coach Stan Yake. They are led by 6-foot-0 Casey Bauer, 5-8 Stefanie Allison, 5-7 Andrea Derrick, and 5-6 Denise Newlin. Cortez has a good team this season and could make a legitimate run to finish among the top teams in the league.

The Panther boys are led by Chris Garland, Marcus Mortensen and Gabe Evans. Evans is averaging 16.0 points per game. MCHS also has a good chance to make the 4A post-season playoffs this year, especially under the new format.

On Saturday afternoon, keep an eye on Central’s girls, who have another strong team this year, and is the preseason favorite to win the league. The Warriors are led under the basket by 5-8 Stephanie Coleman. She is averaging 10.9 rebounds per outing with an 18 board effort in Central’s triple-overtime win at Smoky Hill. Coleman also has a balanced game. She's third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.1 points a game, and leads the Warriors in steals with 17. And as many touches as she gets, she's averaging just 1.6 turnovers an outing.

Experience and more discipline have been the benchmark of the season of Central's 5-2 start. The Warriors began with a four-game win streak before going 1-2 in the Heritage Holiday Hoopla tournament just before Christmas.

On Friday night, watch Fruita-Monument boys. The Wildcats have been up and down so far during the nonconference play this season because most of the boys basketball players had been playing football. The Wildcats had a good football team and advanced into post-season play which cut into basketball practices during the early going. The Wildcats have an athletic team and should be watched because they will be a factor towards the end of the season.

Mancos High School visits Dolores County (actually the game will be played at Dolores High School Gym because the DCHS gym is condemned) beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday in San Juan Basin League Class 2A action.

The Mancos boys have lost two straight after winning three straight to win their Blue Jay Classic Tournament before the holidays. MHS, 4-4 overall, is led by Bill Baker, Jesse Rousset, Travis Clark, and Clint Hill. DCHS boys are led by Terence Gardner and Keith Pierce. DCHS finished in a surprise second-place in the SJBL and second in the District III Tournament before losing at Regionals last year. The Bulldogs have been up and down so far this year.

The Bulldog girls, 2-5 overall, are coming around and are led by Erin Fury who is averaging 16.0 points per game. They fell 39-31 Tuesday night, Jan. 9, to MCHS JVs in Ron Wright Memorial Gym. The game was close throughout the first half and the score was deadlocked at 16 all at the intermission. The Mancos girls are 5-4 overall and coming off a thrilling one-point win over larger Bayfield on Jan. 6. MHS is led by Kerri Morgan and Katie Paxton.

"They threw a press on us in the third quarter which was effective and that got us behind," first-year DCHS girls coach Kim Young said. "We had a hard time catching up in the fourth. Nothing would drop for us."

Cortez outpointed the Bulldogs 23-15 in the second half. Rachel Hightower paced DCHS with 11.

The Bulldogs fell to a good Ignacio team on Jan. 6 by a score of 67-28. Ignacio jumped out to a 15-3 at the end of the first period and coasted from there. Hightower tossed in 12 and Shandra Johnson 10.

"Ignacio has a tough man defense. We just did not play very well and we missed a lot of free throws (18 percent)," Young reported.

Dolores boys and girls open play on Saturday at Norwood. Dolores girls, who have another powerhouse team, is definitely the team to beat. Dolores won the league and district title and finished fourth in State last year. Dolores is led by Jennifer Trevillian who is averaging 14.0 points per game and the Everett twins who have grabbed 41 (Joni) and 37 (Tracy) rebounds. Sarah Nielson is dishing out 13 assists.