Panther girls to put young team on hoop floor

Panther girls to put young team on hoop floor

December 4, 2001

JUNIOR CASIE JOHNSON (11) of the Montezuma-Cortez High School varsity girls basketball team pulls up for a jumper during action Saturday in the annual Cortez Invitational Tournament. The Panthers, who finished in second place, have a young team this year. They only have one starter back from a season ago and have many players without much varsity experience. The Panthers travel to Moab, Utah, today.

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

To say the Panthers have a young girls basketball team is putting it lightly. The Panthers have only one starter back from a year ago and host of newcomers who are mainly freshmen and sophomores.

Cortez is missing all-conference (Southwest League) selection 6-foot Casey Bauer who decided to forgo her senior year in order to concentrate on her off-season volleyball work for college. Bauer inked a scholarship offer to attend Division I Colorado State University next fall. But junior all-conference pick Stefanie Allison is back.

"We have a young team this year of mostly sophomores with some juniors," Stan Yake commented about his second team as head coach. "We only have one starter (5-10 Allison) from last year back."

Sharp shooting 5-6 junior Amanda Frazier saw some playing time a year ago and will be a definite help this year. Nicole Stephens, a 5-6 senior guard, and Hannah Mortensen, a 5-7 senior, will provide leadership and both will play plenty this year.

"We should have a lot to look forward to this season," Yake added. "We have some good young ones who like the game. The older ones are trying to lead the younger ones. We have great leadership from the ones we do have coming back from last year’s varsity team."

Yake feels the strength of the Panthers is they are already coming together as a team.

"Everyone is working together. The practice hard and play hard. I think they have good chemistry," he said.

The Panthers do not have tremendous heighth this season. They do have 5-10 sophomore Lindsey Wilson who will play a lot of post for MCHS this year. Sasha Yarbrough, a 5-8 soph, also will see plenty of playing time. Casie Johnson, 5-10 junior, will come off the bench and provide help underneath as well. Sonia Wing, a freshman, also will help.

But they can compensate for the lack of size by being very aggressive. Yake does feel the team has overall has good quickness which will also pay off. The Panthers must box out.

"We need to use our speed correctly. Right now we are not using correctly. But that will only come with experience," he added.

During the early part of the season the Panthers may take a few lumps. But if they can turn any losses into something positive, then they should be already as the youngsters come around.

"We are still a ways from where I would like us to be. Each week we are going to get better. That is our goal.," Yake said.

The Panthers are 1-1 on the young season, having finished second this past weekend in their own Cortez Invitational. They crushed Bloomfield, N.M., 62-32 in the opening game and then fell to a tall and experienced Pagosa Springs team, 35-26, in the championship game (see related story).

They travel to Moab, Utah, to play Grand County around 6 p.m. today, Dec. 4. They travel to Pagosa to play in the Wolf Creek Classic this Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7-8. They travel to Aztec, N.M., for a game on Dec. 14 and visit Ignacio on Dec. 20 to close the 2001 portion of the season.

The girls go Farmington on Jan. 5 and then open Southwestern League play by finally returning home to play Fruita-Monument and Central of Grand Junction Jan. 18-19. They travel to Montrose on Jan. 25 and play at Grand Junction High Jan. 26 and visit Durango on Feb. 1. They travel to Fruita on Feb. 8 and visit Central on Feb. 9. They host Montrose Feb. 15, Grand Junction Feb. 16, and Durango Feb. 21.

The District VII Tournament is set Feb. 28-March 1-2 with Regional games slated for March 5-9. State will be in the Pepsi Center March 13-16.