Missed layups and free throws came back to bite the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers (3-15) in a 63-50 loss to the Durango Demons (12-7) on Tuesday evening.
The Panthers got off to a great start by feeding the ball inside to senior Luis Perry for four quick points, and they forced turnovers on two of Durango’s first three possessions.
M-CHS played tight man-to-man defense, but showed heavy help to eliminate driving lanes in an attempt to force Durango into tough shots.
The Demons seemed all too happy to settle for perimeter jumpers, and while they would gather the occasional long offensive rebound, the strategy seemed to favor the visiting Panthers.
“We had to stop Orion Clay and we were willing to sacrifice a few open shots to clog up that middle on him,” said M-CHS head coach Mike Hall. “It worked to our advantage.”
The Panthers led 12-9 after the first quarter, but Clay broke free for eight points in the second and the Panthers were held to just five points – on two field goals and a free throw by Perry – and the Demons led 24-17 at half.
“We missed a bunch of easy layups,” Hall said of his team’s second-quarter scoring woes. “We got a lot of open shots, we just missed them. That’s all it was.”
M-CHS went back inside to Perry and outscored Durango 16-15 in the third quarter, but still trailed by six to start the final frame.
Early in the fourth, after a jumper by Daniel Fernandez and a driving score by Coby Baer, M-CHS sophomore Obed Simental smacked the ball out of the hands of a driving Clay and then knocked down a corner 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to pull within three.
Durango was able to increase its lead to eight with three minutes remaining, but even though the Panthers made only four field goals in the final quarter, they had opportunities to score from the free throw line.
However, M-CHS shot just 8-of-15 from the stripe in the fourth, and 12-of-25 for the game to finish at 48 percent, and Durango went on to win, 63-50.
After the game, Hall spoke of how missed free throws hurt his team, even though he couldn’t pinpoint the reasons behind their struggles.
“They know how to shoot free throws,” he said. “We shoot them all the time. The atmosphere and the emotion probably had a lot to do with it.”
Durango wasn’t much better from the stripe – shooting 61 percent – but they had nine more attempts than the Panthers, and senior Guy Bay knocked down 9-of-12 in the fourth quarter to close out the game.
Bay and Clay finished with 15 apiece for the Demons and senior Terrance Trujillo led the home team with 17.
Perry finished with a game-high 21 to lead the Panthers, Jasen Engel was the only other M-CHS player in double-figures with 10 and Fernandez finished with seven.
