Panther girls cage team defeats Ignacio

Panther girls cage team defeats Ignacio

Dec. 22, 2001

STAFF REPORT

IGNACIO — Montezuma-Cortez High School varsity girls basketball team wrapped up the 2001 portion of the season with a 59-53 nonconference victory over Class 3A Ignacio Thursday night, Dec. 20, at IHS.

The Panthers will take a break for the holidays and then return to action the first week of January. Colorado High School Activities Associations regulations prohibit official practices (with a coach in attendance) from 6 p.m. Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day. Practices can begin Jan. 2.

Class 4A Cortez had to hold off a comeback effort by the Bobcats in their upset bid. The Bobcats cut the lead to 58-53 late in the fourth quarter and had a chance to pull even closer but a three-point shot missed its mark. Panther Amanda Frazier iced the game by sinking one of two free throws.

The Panthers led 16-9 at the end of the first quarter and held a 29-18 lead at the intermission.

Stefanie Allison made 10 free throws during the final quarter. She finished with a game-high 24 points. Maria Rivera paced Ignacio with 15.

MCHS girls will return to action Jan. 5 when it visits Farmington High.

The Panther boys hosted Farmington High in a non-conference game Friday night, Dec. 21, in Ron Wright Memorial Gym to end the fall portion of the season. MCHS boys will return to action Jan. 7 when it hosts Aztec, N.M.

Several other area hoop teams are still playing.

Mancos High School played Friday night in its second game of the annual Blue Jay Classic held in the Mancos Performance Center. The Jay boys and girls hosted MCHS JVs Friday night and will host Farmington High JVs beginning at 5:30 p.m. today, Dec. 22, in its third game of the round-robin tournament. The Blue Jay girls defeated Durango JVs Tuesday night while the boys fell to Ignacio. The Blue Jay boys and girls will visit Ignacio Jan. 5.

Dolores boy and girls were scheduled to visit Shiprock, N.M., on Dec. 18, but those games were postponed. DHS boys and girls will not play again until they visit Bayfield on Jan. 11.

Dolores County girls took third place in the Piedra Vista Tournament in Farmington. The Bulldogs lost to the host Panthers 63-21 but rebounded the next day to defeat Kearns, Utah, JV 54-46 for third. Against PV, Nikki Hassell scored 6 points. In the win over Kearns, Shandra Johnson popped in 18, Hassell and Erin Ivie 11 each. DCHS will visit MCHS JVs on Jan. 10 in a game at Cortez Middle School Gym. DCHS boys played Bayfield Thursday night and lost 53-45. The Bulldogs had defeated Bayfield 54-38 on Nov. 30 to open the season. They will not play again also playing MCHS on Jan. 10.