Mancos boys to face interesting tournament

Mancos boys to face interesting tournament

Mar. 7, 2001

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

PUEBLO — It could be a very interesting Class 2A State Basketball Tournament which gets under way today, March 8, and concludes Saturday, March 10, in the Pueblo Events Center.

"I don’t remember a tournament in which three schools are private," Mancos head boys basketball coach Gary Hill said. "And all of them are very good. Evangelical Christian has a very good program and has been to state before. Jefferson and Riverview are newcomers to the tournament. Sange de Cristo also is new. We all know about how good of programs Nucla, Swink and Limon have."

The Blue Jays (12-6), who recorded a mild upset over North Park 57-53 on Saturday afternoon in Grand Junction, battle first-year program Jefferson Academy (22-1) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Nucla (20-2) takes on Limon (15-4) at 10:15 a.m. On the other side of the bracket, Swink (22-0) faces Evangelical Christian (18-4) at 8:30 p.m. while Sange de Cristo (22-1) meets Riverview Christian (20-3) at 1:15 p.m. Jefferson Academy is the top seed in the tournament while Mancos is the no. 8 seed.

The Jefferson Academy-Mancos winner plays the Nucla-Limon winner at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals. The Class 2A Tournament plays the tournament on out over the three days. The losers of those game meet at 10:15 a.m. in the consolation bracket. The winner of the Swink-Evangelical Christian and the winner of the Sangre de Cristo-Riverview Christian play at 5:30 p.m. Friday while the losers play at 1:15. The consolation game is set for 10:15 a.m. Saturday, the third-place game at 1:15 and the championship at 8:30 p.m.

"This looks like it will be a very good tournament field," Hill said. "We are looking forward to playing in it."

Sange de Cristo may be the favorites in the field. This team is worth checking out. This team is very quick and they make a lot of steals and turn them into points.

Traveling to Pueblo will be sophomore 5-foot-10 guard Clint Hill, sophomore 5-9 guard Chase Davis, freshman 6-0 guard Kent Russell, sophomore 5-11 forward Preston Hennrich, junior 6-1 guard Kyle Yeomans, junior 5-10 guard Nick Rubino, junior 6-2 forward Kelley Smith, senior 6-3 post/forward/guard Bill Baker, junior 6-2 forward Travis Clark, junior 6-4 post Ryan Shepherd, and senior 6-1 forward Jesse Rousset. The team is coached Hill and he is assisted by Gordon Shepherd.

Coach Hill said he will likely start Baker, Rousset, Clark, Hill, and Yeomans. Smith and Shepherd will see a lot of playing time. Rousset is averaging 15.6 points per game and Baker right under him at 14.0.

"This is a new private school in the Denver area," coach Hill said. "I know they are very big and very athletic. They will run the ball up and down the floor. They will start a team 6-2 or better."

"At this point in the season, I’m not going to make any changes as to what we’ve been doing all season. We just need to play very good defense and be patient on offense and make them play defense. But we will still run when we get the opportunity," he added.

Jefferson Academy is led by Micah McGibbon who is scoring 15.6 points per game. Matt Morrison and Tony Neihaus are averaging more than 10 each. McGibbon also is team’s leading rebounder, pulling down more than 10 boards a game.

The Class 2A fans can purchase tickets on a walk-up basis at the Pueblo Events Center box office.