Panther girls win in Aztec; boys place third

Panther girls win in Aztec; boys place third

December 18, 2001

By Jim Thomas
Journal Sports Editor

It was the highest finish for the Montezuma-Cortez High School boys basketball team ever in the Navajo Generating Tournament in Page, Ariz. The Panthers took the consolation finals (third place) on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 15, at Page High School Gym.

"That was our highest finish in this tournament. We have won a couple consolation games before but this is our best finish. It was a good tournament. I felt the kids learned a lot," MCHS head boys coach Wade Mortensen commented.

Cortez defeated rival and fellow Southwest League member Durango 47-39 in the third-place game.

MCHS led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter and held a slim 20-17 advantage at the half. Cortez outscored Durango 14-10 in the third and 13-12 in the fourth.

The Panthers got balanced scoring as four finished in double-digits. Jeff Anderson gunned in 15, Kyle Wilson 13, Marcus Mortensen 12, and Layne Fraizer 10.

"That was a tough game but a good win for us," Mortensen reported. "Durango played hard. Durango beat a team (South Mountain) from Phoenix in the first round. They got beat pretty badly by Page the next night. But they played hard against us."

MCHS opened the tournament on Thursday, Dec. 13, with an easy 82-67 win over Monument Valley of Kayenta, Ariz. Cortez opened up a 22-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Panthers led 39-24 at the intermission. Cortez outscored MVHS 23-12 in the third but MV came back and outpointed the Panthers 31-20 in the fourth. But by that point, coach Mortensen was playing everybody.

In that contest, Mortensen popped in 20, Kirk Archibeque 14, Frazier 13, and Anderson 12.

Cortez lost in the semifinals to Dixie High School of St. George, Utah. Dixie, second ranked in that state in its classification, led 19-8 at the end of the first quarter. It held a 30-22 lead at the half. MCHS did out score Dixie 18-15 in the third but Dixie poured it on in the fourth, outpointing MCHS 29-18 for the 74-58 final score.

Anderson led the way with 15, Wilson 13, Mortensen 12, and Frazier 10.

"Dixie deserved to win. They beat us. They lost by 5 points in the finals to Page.

The Panthers will host Famington High School at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 22, to end the first half of the season.

"We’re just inconsistent right now. That’s somewhat to be expected this time of year. It seems like we have an all outside game going but no inside game. Then we will have an inside but no outside. Once we get both going, we should be pretty good," Mortensen said.

Mancos boys and girls visted Durango on Saturday afternoon to play the Durango JVs teams. The MHS boys won a thriller 53-51 while the MHS girls lost a heartbreaker losing in double-overtime 60-54.

The Blue Jay boys got off to a quick start, taking a 24-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

"We ran some good plays and got off some good shots. We played very well that first quarter," MHS head boys coach Gary Hill commented.

The Blue Jays held a 32-24 lead at the intermission. But the young Demons made a comeback in the second half, outpointing the Jays 27-22. The Blue Jays, though, managed to hold on.

"We had a chance to put them away but we missed some free throws down the stretch. We had to make three stops down the court to prevent the game from going into overtime. The kids stepped up and played very good defense. I was real pleased with our defensive intensity the whole game," Hill added.

Kelley Smith paced the Blue Jays with 15 points. Kyle Yeomans and Clint Hill each popped in 11 and Travis Clark added 9.

The MHS girls played well through the first three quarters. Katie Paxton was dominating play but she went down with sprained ankle and did not play in the fourth. She finished the game with 14 points.

"That hurt us," MHS head girls coach Kevin Dimmick remarked. "She was playing very well. She was dominating."

The score was tied 44-all at the end of regulation. Mancos, though, was outscored 16-10 in the two overtimes. Mancos had led 26-22 at the intermission.

"We had a chance to go up by three with 30 seconds but we missed a layup. We struggled without Katie in there. We will miss her this week (for the annual Blue Jay Classic) but she will have a month to get healed before we start league (Class AA San Juan Basin League)," Dimmick said.

Joining Paxton in double-digit scoring were Cambria Hanson and Jori Yeomans each with 13.

The Blue Jay Classic gets under way today, Dec. 18, with the Jay girls hosting Durango JVs in the preliminary game and the MHS boys hosting Ignacio beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Mancos Performance Center. The Blue Jay boys and girls will host Cortez JVs Friday night and host Farmington High JVs Saturday night.

At Aztec, N.M., the Panther girls varsity basketball captured the annual Lady Tiger Invitational on Saturday night. Cortez beat Aztec 52-42 to win the tournament.

Kristen Green and Kerbi John were the top scorers for Aztec, with 11 points each. Nika Jantz followed, scoring 6 points for the Tigers.

Even though her team lost, Tiger head coach Karen McFarland was happy with how her team played.

Cortez's top scorer was Stefanie Allison, who had 23 points. She was followed by Amanda Frazier, who scored 14.

The Dolores County boys are coming off an easy 77-25 win over Class A Ridgway. The Bulldogs dominated Ridgway. The Bulldogs used a full-court press which caused Ridgway to make a lot of turnovers which DCHS turned into easy baskets on Dec. 8.

Bulldog Keith Pierce scored a game-high 25 points from the inside. He also grabbed 12 rebounds. Lyle Joe tossed in 15 and Dallas Coker 10.

The DCHS girls came on the short end of a 44-19 score to rival Monticello, Utah, on Dec. 6. Monticello got second and third attempts on shots it missed and before finally making. Monticello outrebounded the smaller Bulldogs. Erin Ivie tossed in 6 points and Nikki Hassell had 7 for DCHS.