On one hand the Mancos High School boys varsity basketball team didn’t play as well as coach Gary Hill would have liked in a 73-64 nonconference win over Montezuma-Cortez High School JVs on Thursday night, Feb. 1, in the Mancos Performance Center. But on the other hand, it was a big win as Hill won no. 300 for a career as a head coach.

"They have got to get up (mentally ready) for every game and come prepared to play. I don’t think we did that tonight. I wish we could have played a little better. That is not taking anything away from Cortez because it has a good team. A nonconference game like this at this point in the season is good and not so good. But I feel like the kids are coming around," he said following the game.

As for Hill, he started head coaching at Shiprock, N.M., High School with girls and brought the program up. He is in the middle of his 20th season as head boys coach at MHS.

The fourth quarter was by far the most interesting. Nick Rubino made a steal and a layup to start things off for Mancos for a 52-41 lead. But Jeff Anderson, who was nearly unconscience shooting from three-point land all evening, canned a three and a few seconds later Kyle Chandler followed which cut Mancos’ lead to 58-47 with 3 minutes, 52 seconds to play. Ryan Shepherd sank a short set shot which put Cortez up 61-52 with 2:10 left. Chandler hit a three which cut the difference to 61-55. Mancos’ Clint Hill made a pair of fouls and Jesse Rousset made an old-fashioned three-point play for a 67-59 advantage. Mancos changed defenses throughout the period which forced some young Panther turnovers. The Blue Jays converted those and cruised to the win.

"I wished we would have watched the perimeter a little better than we did. We let them have quite a few wide-open shots and they were knocking them down. We might some clutch free throws down the stretch. I also was very pleased with our rebounding and blocking out," Hill added.

The game got off to a rather slow start for Mancos as the Jays missed five shots from less than three feet away. Travis Clark, though, came on strong during the game. He made a nice layup off an assist from Hill which put the Jays up 11-4. Mancos tightened its matchup 1-3-1 zone but Chandler shot over it for a three-pointer but Mancos was still up 17-11 when the first quarter closed.

The Jays became complacent and Anderson took over in the second quarter. He made two threes in a row and a few second later drove the lane for a bucket but Mancos still led 21-17. Anderson stayed hot all quarter and sank two more threes before it ended. At that point, Hill called time with 5:19 on the clock. Clark took the ball hard to the hole which made it 26-21 still in favor of MCHS. Mancos was making a lot of bad passes. However, Bill Baker tied the game at 29. The half ended at 32-all.

Mancos continued to switch zone defenses. Clark’s layup put Mancos up 37-33 early in the third quarter. But David Gordanier pulled MCHS within one point at 40-39. Rousset’s steal and layup gave Mancos some breathing room at 44-39. MHS led 48-41 when the quarter ended.

The Blue Jays got balanced scoring as Clark finished with a season-high 20. Rousset muscled in 13, Kyle Yeomans and Baker added 10 each, and Kelley Smith eight. Anderson finished with a game-high 25 before fouling out. Kirk Archibeque scored 14 and Chandler 13.

The Blue Jay boys and girls host Dolores County in a Class 2A San Juan Basin League game beginning today, Feb. 3, at 5:45 p.m. in the Mancos Performance Center. In other league action, Dolores boys and girls visit Norwood today.