Panther boys sweep SWL league hoop games on road

Panther boys sweep SWL league hoop games on road

Jan. 23, 2001

STAFF REPORT

It has been three seasons since the Montezuma-Cortez High School varsity boys basketball team has swept Southwestern League games on the road.

"It was a good weekend for us," MCHS head boys coach Wade Mortensen reported. "I think it has been since Geoff Jones was a senior (three years ago) that we won both games on the road."

The Panthers beat Grand Junction High School in overtime Friday night, Jan. 19, 75-70 and then had no trouble at Montrose on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 20, winning 61-41.

Against the Tigers, MCHS scored 14 points in overtime while GJHS scored nine. The score was tied at 61-all at the end of regulation. It looked like Marcus Mortensen was fouled just before regulation ended but it wasn’t called.

Mortensen had a good night shooting as he knocked down six threes and finished with a game-high 30 points. Kyle Wilson scored 15 and Mike Rivas 14. Brady Butler led GJHS with 22, Lars Irion added 16 and Doug Simons 12.

"It was good to see some of our other players come through for us. Wilson is coming on (following an injury back in December). The kids are playing well right now. We are doing some good things out there," Coach Mortensen said.

MCHS started out slowly, trailing 17-11 at the end of the first quarter. But the Panthers suddenly came alive offensively and outscored the Tigers 25-17 in the second quarter to take a 42-34 lead the half. MCHS added 11 in the third and 14 in the fourth while the Tigers scored nine in the third and 18 in the fourth in a comeback effort.

"We had trouble getting going in the first period. I thought we really played in the second," Mortensen added.

The group then headed to Montrose on Saturday. Cortez had a lot of momentum going into the game and played very well in the first period. MCHS led 21-9 when the quarter horn sounded. Cortez and Montrose played about evenly in the second. MCHS held a 33-19 lead at the break. But Cortez came out strong in the third quarter and outscored the Indians 12-8. They outscored them 16-14 in the fourth.

Young Mortensen again had the hot hand. A total of 15 of his 19 points came from three-point land. Rivas chipped in 13 and Layne Frazier added 10. Casey Brown led Montrose with 11.

The Panther girls came up short on the scoreboard both days. They lost 47-34 to Grand Junction High and fell 49-31 to Montrose.

Against the Tigers, Cortez stayed close at 9-6 after the first period. But they were down 22-17 at the half.

"We kept it close the first half," MCHS head girls coach Stan Yake said. "We played pretty well up until that point."

Then the wheels fell off for Cortez. Grand Junction led 42-24 after three periods.

"They just blew us out in the third quarter. We didn’t play very well offensively or defensively in the second half. We actually outplayed them in the fourth quarter but we were too far down," Yake noted.

Casey Bauer paced MCHS with 12 and Stefanie Allison added six. Maddie Burford led GJHS with 13.

The next day at Montrose was much like the night before.

Montrose led 12-8 at the end of the first period and held a 23-15 advantage at the half. Montrose led 39-24 at the end of three quarters.

"They (Indians) just plain outplayed us basically," Yake remarked. "We made too many defensive mistakes and they took advantage of them. We just didn’t play consistenly on offense."

Emilie Lanier led the way with nine and Lindsey Wilson added seven.

The Panther boys and girls are still looking at three more games on the road before they return home. They visit rival Durango this Friday (6 p.m. for the girls). They travel to Fruita-Monument and Central of Grand Junction the following weekend.