DENVER — Old man "Mo" is an ornery cuss. One minute he is on your side and the next minute he turns against you.

For the Montezuma-Cortez High School boys, the "Mo" —mentum was on their side for the first half Thursday night and then suddenly switched in the second half in their quarterfinal game against Adams City at the Class 4A state basketball tournament in the Pepsi Center.

Adams City stormed back from a 38-27 halftime deficit to beat MCHS 65-61 and eliminate the Panthers from any more games in the tournament.

Meanwhile in Pueblo at the Class 2A State Boys Basketball Tournament, Mancos saw old man "Mo" be friendly for only one quarter — the third — but it wasn’t enough, as the Blue Jays fell 82-51 to Jefferson Academy in the quarterfinals in the Events Center.

After Adams City jumped out to a quick 11-6 lead Thursday night, the Panthers started attacking the basket. Three-pointers by Mike Rivas and Gabe Evans put Cortez up 14-13. Just before the first quarter closed, Jeff Anderson made a putback off a poorly missed shot for an 18-15 lead.

The Panthers clearly were dominating action early in the second period. Chris Garland hit a pair of charity tosses to give Cortez a 25-18 lead with 6:39 to go. A few minutes later, Cortez was up 31-18 after Layne Frazier drove the baseline for a basket. Evans brought the Panther fans to their feet when he made a reverse, no-look over-the-back layup.

But seconds later Eagle Tim Jones made a dunk on a breakaway. Cortez led 34-23 with 2:18 to go in the first half. The Panthers led 38-27 at the half.

As quickly as old man "Mo" came to their aid, he left. Adams City opened the third quarter with a 6-2 run. The Panthers’ lead was cut to 40-33. Jones’ lay-up off a steal rimmed Cortez’s advantage to 42-40. Lenny Miles tied the score at 42 with a dunk that brought the Eagles’ fans to their feet.

The Panthers seemed rattled. Adams City went to a four-corner offense to slow down the pace and use the clock. Adams City outscored Cortez 19-4 in the period to lead 46-42.

It was all Adams City in the fourth quarter. The Panthers also could not buy a basket while the Eagles clearly had the hot hand.

With 2:13 to play, Adams City was up 60-51. Garland cut the lead to 60-53 by muscling in a shot underneath at 1:30. Miles sank the front end of a one-plus-one but Marcus Mortensen responded with a three. Chad Blum hit a pair of free throws that put the Eagles ahead 55-56 with 47.7 seconds left. Cortez finished with a flurry of points but it was too late.

"In the first half we were the aggressors and in the second half they became the aggressors," MCHS head coach Wade Mortensen said. "We had the momentum in the first half and then they got the momentum back."

Mortensen said when Adams City went to the 1-3-1 half-court trap, the Eagles played it well in the third quarter.

"They got into our passing lanes and made it tough on us. They played great defense. They have a great bunch of athletes. They just outplayed us in the second half," Mortensen added.

Simply put, Mortensen continued, "They outscored us and that’s what counts in this game. Adams City got the hot hand but that is what happens when they play as good a defense as they did."

Miles led all scorers with 24 points while teammates Jones and David Birkle added 20 and 13, respectively. Garland paced Cortez with 20 while young Mortensen chipped in 14 and Evans 10. Cortez ended the season at 17-8 overall.

Although Garland showed tremendous senior leadership all season and Thursday night as well, the Panthers will lose only him. The rest of the team is composed of sophomores and juniors. Panther boys basketball apparently will have a bright future.

Adams City was to meet Pueblo South, a 63-59 winner over Mitchell, in Friday night’s semifinal. In the other semifinal it will be Sierra (56-46 over Widefield) and Lewis-Palmer (57-47 over Steamboat Springs). The championship is set for 4:15 p.m. today.

Meanwhile in Pueblo, the Blue Jays had their early share of problems against Jefferson Academy, a first-year private school.

"They have a senior-dominated club so they didn’t make many mistakes," Mancos coach Gary Hill reported. "Jefferson City has a very good team and it showed early."

Jefferson City jumped all over the Blue Jays in the first quarter, taking a 29-8 lead.

"They shot the ball extremely well," Hill said.

The Jaguars outscored Mancos 20-13 in the second quarter to take a comfortable 49-21 lead into the locker room.

Mancos played hard in the third quarter. The momentum had swung towards the Jays. Mancos outpointed Jefferson Academy 20-16 but still trailed 65-41. The Jaguars, though, charged hard in the fourth quarter, outscoring Mancos 17-10 to coast to the win.

Matt Morrison led all scorers with 25 points. Scott Flanagan added 18, Tony Mienhaus 14, and Mike McGibbon 11. Bill Baker scored 15 and Travis Clark added 14 for Mancos.

"We seemed a little nervous and timid in the first quarter. But as the game went on, we started playing better," Hill added.

Mancos played fellow San Juan Basin League foe Nucla Friday morning in a consolation game and lost 73-72 in overtime. Jefferson Academy played Limon in the semifinals Friday night.