Cortez takes fifth in national basketball tournament

Cortez takes fifth in national basketball tournament

Aug 4, 2001

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Battle-tested tough.

That’s what these boys will be by the time they are seniors at Montezuma-Cortez High School. Many of the players have been playing together since they were youngsters. A group of basketball players, coming out of one school (MCHS) participated recently in the Basketball Congress International Boys’ 16-17 year-old division earlier this summer in Arlington, Texas.

The team of Kirk Archibeque, Marcus Mortensen, Gabe Evans, Kyle Wilson, Jeff Anderson, Kyle Chandler, Billy Innis, and Devin Perkins finished fifth overall.

"That is really a big accomplishment to finish fifth in national tournament like this, considering they all come out of one high school from a small town. They played several of their games against all-star teams from large cities and they either won or held their own," coach Bob Archibeque commented.

Team Panthers first played pool play against New York City Riverside Church, San Antonio Wolverines, and Arkansas Ball Hawgs. Cortez took on the Ball Hawgs from Little Rock and defeated them 72-68 in their first pool game. The next morning Team Panthers battled Riverside and fell 70-54. They came back and clobbered San Antonio 82-52. The top two teams — Riverside and Cortez — advanced into the championship bracket of the week-long tournament.

Team Panthers lost 70-62 to the Texas (mainly from Fort Worth) Jayhawks 70-62 in the opening round. That sent Cortez into the bottom half of the bracket of the double-elimination tournament. Their next opponent was Baton Rouge, La., Titans and Cortez won 80-72. Team Panthers took on Dallas Select (a group of all-stars) and defeated them in a barnburner 70-69.

Cortez continued advancing through the bracket. The took on the Colorado Chaos (all stars from the northern part of the state) and won 85-75. They played the Colorado Express (a group of all-stars from such schools as Adams City, Denver East, Montbello) and fell 76-75.

"Oh man!," Archibeque exclaimed when talking about the type of talent his team faced. "We are taking on a whole another level. The talent at this tournament was certainly a lot better than any team at the State (Class 4A) Tournament. We are talking about playing against teams from New York City where Patrick Ewing played. There are probably 20 NBA (National Basketball Association) players who at one time or another played in this tournament."

Archibeque said his team was more "team oriented" than some of the teams which featured a lot of good one-on-one all-star type players.

"We played a team-oriented style of play. Basically, we ran the same basic offense and defense as Wade (Mortensen, head MCHS boys basketball coach) ran all last season. We just continued from where Wade left off last spring. A lot of the coaches were amazed at how well the kids played considering they all came from one school. But seeing and playing against that type of talent can only make our kids better. It was a great experience for me and them," Archibeque added.