CORTEZ – The foundation was laid during the summer months, and now the Panthers girls basketball team are framing the house.
For a program with just two double-digit win seasons in the past two decades, M-CHS looks poised to alter plenty of historical narratives in 2024. Head coach Brad Wright’s girls are already halfway to a 10-plus win season, thanks to a 71-25 thumping of Bayfield to open the Intermountain League schedule, but the Panthers have their sights set on larger ambitions.
Since switching from the Southwestern League to the IML in 2014-15, the Panthers have gone a combined 1-62 against the league’s three top dogs – Pagosa Springs, Centauri, and Alamosa. Ergo, the excitement heading into the next three contests – all road games against those aforementioned power – offers the Panthers a real measuring stick of their progress.
The Panthers (5-3, 1-0 4A/3A IML) made sure that their first action of 2024 would not be a stumbling block on their push to overturn the perennial hierarchy in the league over the next month. M-CHS broke away from the Wolverines with a decisive second quarter, outscoring Bayfield 27-12 en route to a 71-25 victory.
Four Panthers reached double figures – and it took senior leading scorer Savannah Haselroth all of five minutes to ensure that she would reach that threshold. The swift guard scored the first 10 points of the night for the home team – finishing with 15 overall – leading M-CHS to a 15-7 lead after one quarter.
From there, the balance of a rhythmic offense took hold, as steals and sharp passing led to buckets from all angles, with junior Kalea Ogo matching a career-high with 10 points on buckets in the second quarter spurt.
Junior Taylor Whited topped all scorers with 18, including a pair of triples, as M-CHS broke 70 points for the second time this season, and upped their scoring average to 56 points per game through the first eight outings, a full 15 points per contest better than a year ago.
Sophomore Sariah Jackson broke into double figures for the third time in her young career with 10 points, as well, while seniors Markylla Jones (eight points), Trenity Tillahash (two), and Kayce Tom (two) added to the scoring fest.
Freshman Milah Begay added six, as the Panthers limited Bayfield to six second half points.
Bayfield junior Renae Foutz tallied 17 of the Wolverine 25 points on the night, including keeping the visitors in the game in the opening 16 minutes with a dozen points. Senior Madison Mead added five for head coach Scott Key’s squad (3-5, 0-1 4A/3A IML).
For as many difficulties as the Panthers have endured against the top half the league, their win over Bayfield continued their recent run of success against their La Plata County rivals, as M-CHS picked up their seventh straight victory in the series.
Now, the next two weeks will tell a fascinating tale regarding a Panther bid to break into the upper tier of the league standings. A trip to Alamosa on Jan. 13 starts a perilous route that heads through Centauri on Jan. 19, then a visit to Pagosa Springs on Jan. 26 caps the gauntlet, before the Panthers travel to face Bayfield for their league rematch on Jan. 27.
