GILCREST — They are used to traveling a long distances just to play a basketball game. During the nonconference portion of the season, they travel annually to Page, Ariz., and Aztec, N.M. The Panthers compete in the far-flung Southwest League during the regular season. Trips to Grand Junction, Fruita, Montrose are common. And even, a trip to their nearest league rival, Durango, takes about an hour.

Although the nine-hour trip from Cortez to Gilcrest (near Greeley) was long, the no. 12 seeded Panthers still came out and played hard on Friday night, March 2, in the second round of the Class 4A Basketball Tournament. They made the most of it by upsetting no. 5 seed Valley 64-54. The Panthers, 17-7 overall, got their ticket punched for the Class 4A State Basketball Tournament, which gets under way Thursday and concludes Saturday, March 8-10, in the Pepsi Center in Denver (see related story).

"I could tell in that first quarter they looked a little tired, but still played well," Montezuma-Cortez High School head boys coach Wade Mortensen reported. "The kids really wanted to win it and they came out and played well. I think if we could have played them on a neutral court a little closer, we would have beaten them a little more. But it was a very physical game and the referees let them play."

It was close all the way, according to Mortensen. Cortez clearly was the aggressors when the game started. They got the early lead and then held on to a slim 19-17 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Cortez led 35-34 at the intermission. The Panthers fell behind 45-38 late in the third quarter but still led 47-45 when the third period closed.

The difference in the game came in the fourth quarter when Cortez scored 18, many of those thanks to free throws, while it limited Valley to nine points.

"The game was closer than the final score indicated," Mortensen said. "I think it was about two minutes to go and we were up by three points when we went into our delay game. They fouled us and we made a lot of our free throws down the stretch. They came down and they didn’t make their shots."

A putback by Layne Frazier gave the Panthers a 51-50 with about five minutes to play. A breakaway off their press by Gabe Evans who was wide open underneath their basket was a key play, according to Mortensen. The Vikings were forced to foul and the Panthers calmly sank them.

"They were a real good team. They had a good kid inside (Dusty Axtell) and he played well. He was strong and made quick moves. He was hard to stop. We had to play well to beat them.

"We played hard and played good defense," Mortensen added. "We came out and got the lead but I was impressed with the way we boxed out. We didn’t give them a chance for more than one shot."

The Panthers, who have good chemistry and play well together, had balanced scoring. Chris Garland pumped in 16, Marcus Mortensen and Evans 11 each while Mike Rivas added nine, Frazier and Kyle Wilson six each, and Jeff Anderson five. Axtell led Valley with 22 while Matt Stewart scored 11 and Chris Love added nine.

But things didn’t go as well for the Panther girls, who visted no. 1 seed and defending champ Mullen in their second round game.

Host Mullen connected on eight of their 12 three-point attempts in the first half, finishing with 13 in the game, and cruised to a 93-32 win against MCHS.

Danielle Porreco led five players in double figures for Mullen with 18 points. Porreco, Kelly O'Connell, Lori Eddy and Beth Hannon each hit three three-pointers, and Ashley McCall added another for good measure for the Mustangs (23-1). Lacey Shafer totaled 15 points and O'Connell and Eddy each scored 11 points. McCall finished with 10. No Panthers scored in double digits. But Denise Newlin scored eight, Emilie Lanier seven, and Lindsey Wilson six.

Mullen used an 11-0 first-quarter run to take control and never looked back, holding Cortez without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes during one stretch of the first half. MCHS trailed 18-5 at the end of the first and 47-13 at the break. Mullen outscored MCHS 46-19 in the second half.