Fifteen minutes before tipoff on Jan. 23, the student section at the Montezuma-Cortez High School was packed and rocking. Orange and black face paint and cheers rained down as the home team took the floor.
Over the next two hours, the party only intensified as the M-CHS boys basketball team dribbled circles around Durango en route to a 64-30 victory.
Jasen Engel led the Panthers in scoring with 17 total points, and after the game, the senior spoke about the significance of his team’s victory.
“Beating Durango twice in the same year, and this time in front of our home crowd, is the pinnacle for us right now,” Engel said. “We’ve been winning some games, and that brought a lot of people in. It was a good crowd, and we’re pretty happy.”
Among the keys to the Panthers’ convincing victory was the ability of junior Cordell Baer and senior Austin Foxworth to control the boards as the two big men pulled down numerous offensive rebounds.
Baer pulled six offensive rebounds and scored four points during the final 3½ minutes of the first quarter to help M-CHS pull ahead 15-4. Early in the second quarter, Foxworth brought the crowd to its feet with an offensive rebound and score that put the Panthers ahead 19-4.
“When we’re on offense, we always want to get the ball under the rim and go right back up,” said Foxworth. “When we’re playing defense, we don’t want to let them get any (offensive rebounds). Rebounding was important for us tonight.”
While Panthers’ big men dominated inside, M-CHS guards did an outstanding job of controlling the pace of the game and generating fast break opportunities.
Senior Mario Espinoza played a key role in several fast breaks on his way to seven first-half points. Sophomore Teagan Whiteskunk provided one of the night’s most memorable highlights when he caught the ball in transition, spun around a defender near midcourt, and broke free for an uncontested layup and put his team ahead 24-7.
“We felt good playing together,” Espinoza said. “When we have chemistry, we work together and come out fired up. I try to provide people with that extra kick to get going, and I was in there to step up.”
Leading 30-11 at halftime, M-CHS received significant contributions from its bench players during the third quarter as junior Jens Jorgenson grabbed several rebounds and senior Roman Montoya scored two of his five total on an elbow jumper to put M-CHS ahead 46-20.
“I was just confident, and my teammates boosted me,” Montoya said. “They told me to shoot the ball, and I knocked (some shots) down.”
Not to be overlooked in the Panthers 34-point victory was the play of the Panthers’ defense, which forced Durango into difficult shots throughout the night and created numerous turnovers.
While several M-CHS players played a key role in locking down Durango, none played a larger role than senior Kolby Waltman, whose intensity on the defensive end shown bright throughout the night.
“We knew if we played defense, there was no way that they were going to be in the game,” Waltman said. “We played killer defense.”
In addition to Engel’s 17 points, M-CHS received 16 points from Whiteskunk, 12 points from Baer, 9 points from Espinoza. Sophomore Martin Cuntz led Durango in scoring with 13 total points.
Now 8-5 on the season, M-CHS will prepare for a critical home games against Bayfield and Alamosa, which will take place on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27, respectively. The contest against Bayfield is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., and the matchup with Alamosa will begin at 7 p.m.
