Looking for their first 3A regional appearance in the careers of any Panthers on the 2022-23 squad, head coach Mike Hall’s team appeared to be in prime position entering their Intermountain District tournament at Centauri.
Knowing that a win over the weekend against either Bayfield or Ignacio would certainly help their cause, the Panthers couldn’t quite close out the Wolverines for the third time this season, falling in a 63-61 heartbreaker. The following day, Ignacio bested the Panthers, 49-37, in the consolation game, but for the Panthers, their regular season body of work was good enough to place them in the field of 32 for the 3A tournament.
In their IML semifinal against Bayfield, M-CHS built a 17-8 lead early in the second quarter behind Bayfield’s kryptonite – senior Austin Wood – who kept attacking the basket against the Wolverines. Bayfield responded with a 9-0 run, before the team’s seesawed their way to a 28-26 Panther lead at halftime.
The No. 2 seeded Wolverines came out the locker room white-hot, taking the lead back, and pressuring the Panthers into turnovers, taking a 42-36 lead after 24 minutes.
Junior Miles Frost laid in a basket to cut the margin to four, but Bayfield senior Jackson Queen responded with a three.
M-CHS pushed a 7-0 run to tie up the game on sophomore Tay Wheat’s triple, setting the stage for another thrilling M-CHS-Bayfield finish.
Sophomore Caiden Leonard escalated the drama with a deep three to restore the Panther lead at 50-49. An and-one from Frost made the lead 55-52, followed by a couple of tenacious defensive stops by the Panthers, putting the game in the hands of M-CHS at the free throw line.
The lead crept up to four, 60-56, with 30 seconds left, before a helter-skelter sequence saw four straight turnovers, before Queen hit another three to cut the margin to one.
After M-CHS made one of two free throws to make it 61-59, Queen hit the shot of the night with another three with four seconds left to give the Wolverines the lead.
The following day in the IML consolation game, M-CHS struggled to get their feet back under them after the devastating blow from the night before. Ignacio pressured the Panthers into numerous turnovers, limiting the Panthers to 16 first half points, while the Bobcats took a fifteen-point lead to the locker room.
The Panthers closed the margin to single digits for a brief period in the second half, but never truly threatened to erase the damage done in the first sixteen minutes.
Senior Isaak Lewis led the way for the orange-and-black with 11 points, while Wood and Wheat each added seven for the cause.
Centauri won the IML tournament, topping Ignacio in the semifinals before pulling away in the second half from Bayfield in the title game. The Falcons landed the No. 3 seed in the state tournament bracket.
M-CHS advanced into the regional bracket for the first time since 2018-19, picking up the No. 31 seed, and will take on the No. 2 seed and regional host Salida Spartans (21-1) in their tournament opener. The other regional semifinal will pit No. 15 Bishop Machebeuf (15-6) against No. 18 Brush (12-9). Regional champions will head to the University of Denver for the state tournament the following weekend.
On the girls side, head coach Brad Wright and his Panthers (5-16) knew that they would likely need to win the district to extend their season another weekend – which meant trying to topple 3A No. 2 Centauri on their home floor.
After holding off Bayfield in their pigtail contest to advance to meet the Falcons, M-CHS ran out of steam against the high-octane Centauri offense. The Falcons scored 24 first quarter points, quieting the energetic Panthers.
Centauri cruised to a 69-18 win, placing the Panthers in the consolation game against Crested Butte on the following morning.
After hanging tough with the No. 3 seeded Titans through the first half, down just 15-11, the Titans got the offense going in the third quarter to pull away to a 45-19 win. Senior Amiyah Ogo scored her final point as a Panther in the loss on a late free throw – the lone senior on a young M-CHS squad.
The Centauri girls completed the IML sweep for the Falcons on their home floor, as they defeated Ignacio in the title game, 46-30.
