CORTEZ – Nobody in The Jungle was more fired up with the Caidin Leonard’s electric start than Panthers head coach Mike Hall.
Scarcely two minutes into the contest, Leonard had slashed the nets with four three-pointers, prompting visiting Pagosa Springs to call a timeout. Hall ran onto the court and chest bumped his senior guard before the rest of the Panthers bench swarmed around Leonard.
“When he (Leonard) started out like that, the whole team starting flowing,” said Hall after Leonard’s opening flourish, “and when he’s able to get into a rhythm like that, this kid is tough.”
The 14-point first quarter served as an appetizer for the main course – a five three-pointer barrage in the third quarter as Leonard and the Panthers ran circles around the visiting Pirates in a 62-36 victory Saturday afternoon.
The lead nearly reached 40 for stretches of the second half as M-CHS rode Leonard’s hot hand to ensure the Panthers their best finish in the Intermountain League since joining the league in 2016-17. With three IML games to go, the Panthers can’t finish any worse than third, and have the inside track for league runner-up.
Just as Leonard torched the nets on one end of the floor, the Panthers defense put together a masterclass, limiting the Pirates to five points in the opening eight minutes and only 21 points through three quarters.
“The defense was incredible, we stopped a lot of what Pagosa was trying to do,” added Hall. “It was definitely our best defensive performance of the season – our big kids battled well in the paint.”
Senior Tay Wheat cashed in on several run-outs as the Panthers clogged the lane and turned Pirates possessions into an ordeal. Wheat’s 15 points accompanied eight tallies from freshman Ah-dae Lang and six from sophomore Trey Hall.
Leonard’s 33 points and nine 3-pointers stole the show, however, and she finished just one triple shy of tying the school record owned by Panthers assistant coach Teagan Whiteskunk.
“That’s the culture of our team, our staff, our players, they all wanted it for him,” Hall said of Leonard’s pursuit of the school record.
After their first meeting came down the final minutes in a 55-48 Panthers victory in Archuleta County, M-CHS (15-5, 7-2 IML) took all the drama out of their rematch by halftime, building a 38-15 lead on their way to their first sweep of Pagosa Springs (6-13, 4-5 IML) since 2020.
M-CHS now turns their focus to Senior Night, where the Panthers will honor three boys and eight girls on Tuesday with their home finale against Ignacio. Coverage of the Panthers-Bobcats doubleheader clash will be available on radio station 92.3 FM and 740 AM KVFC and kvfcradio.com.
Facing the No. 2 team in the state, M-CHS (5-15, 1-8 IML) struggled to gain traction against the visiting Pirates in their third game in five days.
Senior Taylor Whited scored the game’s first points before the Pirates put together a 19-0 run that set the tone for the afternoon. Whited finished with seven points to accompany six from freshman Kyndall Schmitt, while the Pirates (15-4, 9-0 IML) had three double figure scorers, led by Elizabeth Currier’s 19-point effort.
