Panther boys, girls advance at Regionals

Panther boys, girls advance at Regionals

Mar. 1, 2001

A long-range jump shot ... swish

PANTHER MARCUS MORTENSEN (12) lets a long jump shot go from three-point land during Class 4A Regional boys basketball action Tuesday night in Ron Wright Memorial Gym at Montezuma-Cortez High School. Mortensen canned five threes on the night and scored 23 points in leading Cortez to an easy 93-42 win over Fountain-Fort Carson. The Panthers advance to Friday’s Sweet 16 round by visiting Valley High School at Gilcrest. A win there would get a ticket punched for next week’s State Tournament in the Pepsi Center in Denver.

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Sweet 16 certainly is sweet for the Panthers.

The Montezuma-Cortez High School boys and girls basketball teams advanced into that round after winning games Tuesday night in Class 4A Regional Basketball Tournament action. The Panther boys crushed Fountain-Fort Carson 93-42 in the friendly confines of Ron Wright Memorial Gym, while the Panther girls defeated Summit 56-48 in a game played at Summit High School in Frisco.

The No. 12-seeded Panther boys will head to Gilcrest to play at No. 5 seed Valley High School (a 76-59 victor over No. 28 seed Pueblo County) at 7 p.m. Friday night, March 2. The Panther girls will play top-seeded and defending champ Mullen (an easy 85-33 winner over No. 32 seed Mesa Ridge) also at 7 p.m. Friday night. The winner of those games will get their ticket punched for the State 4A Tournament in Denver. The boys will play all games in the Pepsi Center while the girls will play the quarterfinals and semifinals at the Denver Coliseum with the finals in the Pepsi Center.

Fountain-Fort Carson players showed their quickness and finesse as they glided to the basket during the early moments of the first quarter. After Marcus Mortensen put Cortez on the board first with a three-pointer, the Trojans scored four points. Cortez fans must have held their collective breaths and said, "whoa."

But the uptempo game, especially for a team that had traveled more than 300 miles while coming here in a snowstorm for most of the way only hours earlier in the day, was just too much for the Trojans.

"They left there at 6 a.m. this morning and that’s hard on a team," MCHS head boys coach Wade Mortensen commented after the game. "They looked tired out there. But you certainly can’t take anything away from our kids because they took it right to them."

The Panthers soon were up 14-8 when Chris Garland made a layup underneath with 2 minutes, 41 seconds to play in the quarter. At that point F-FC coach Jim Williams needed a time-out. Mortensen hit for another three and seconds before the quarter ended Gabe Evans made a layup at the buzzer for a 23-12 lead.

The Panthers were shooting the lights out early in the second period. And on the rare occasions when they missed, they were tenacious in boxing out and grabbing rebounds.

"I thought we boxed out very well tonight," Mortensen added. "We went to the boards very well."

The Panthers not only dominated on the boards and shot the basketball very well, they extended the defense and clamped down on the Trojans.

Cortez opened the quarter with a 6-2 run for a 25-18 advantage. Garland and Kyle Wilson put Cortez up 29-18. Cortez led 31-18 when another time was called. Mortensen then canned a three and Evans hit another three for a comfortable 38-20 lead. Jeff Anderson hit two free throws just before the half ended for a 42-20 score.

Cortez’ Mike Rivas made a layup and a free throw after he was fouled to open the third quarter. Cortez went on an 12-0 run, capped by an Anderson’ three for a 52-20 lead at the 6:30 mark. A highlight for the Trojans came when Mike Broadnax made a jam. Cortez still was way up, 56-26. With 13 seconds left in the third quarter there was no doubt that the proverbial fat lady had sung, as Cortez led 66-30.

"We came out in the third quarter and kept the pressure on them. I was very pleased with our play and intensity in that quarter. We didn’t want to let them back in," Mortensen remarked.

The Panthers made sure the Trojans were cooked when Rivas canned a three to open the fourth. Kyle Chandler’s steal, layup and free throw gave the Panthers a 74-30 cushion. With 4:59 to play, Mortensen cleared his bench. And when Kirk Archibeque made a basket, every Panther had scored.

Young Mortensen led the way with a game-high 23, Evans tossed in 14, Garland 13, Rivas nine, Billy Innis eight, Wilson and Anderson six apiece, Layne Frazier four, Archibeque three, and Walt Pape one. Broadnax paced F-FC with 14 and Tim Hutchins added 13.

"We are playing very well right now. I wish we didn’t have to travel all the way up to near Greeley. But our kids can handle it and we’ll be ready to play. I really like this new format for our classification. For the past two years we had to win the tournament only to get a berth in Regionals. This is really a good thing for our guys," he said.

Meanwhile, up at Summit High School, the red-hot Panther girls slowly took apart the Tigers. Cortez jumped all over them in the first period. Cortez held a 17-12 advantage when the first quarter ended. Cortez led 32-26 at the intermission.

The Panthers stepped up their up defensive play and limited the Tigers just five points in the third quarter. MCHS scored 12 for a 44-31 lead at the end of three quarters. But the Tigers came storming back in the fourth and outscored Cortez 17-12 but it was too little too late.

It was a foul-plagued game. Both schools went to the free-throw line numerous times. Cortez sank 19 of 28 attempts while Summit made 15 of 23.

Panther Denise Newlin led all scorers with 17 points. Teammates Stefanie Allison hit for 13, Casey Bauer 10, Lindsey Wilson chipped in six while Emilie Lanier and Andrea Derrick added five each. Danielle Harchelrod led Summit with 15 while Abi Beer tossed in 14 and Lauren LeTourneu added nine.