Midway through the fourth quarter of its home game against Pagosa Springs on Dec. 11, the Montezuma-Cortez High School boys basketball team found itself trailing by six points with its undefeated record in jeopardy.
But senior Michael Diaz was not at all interested in seeing his team lose, and over the next four minutes, in spite of his diminutive size, the Panthers’ point guard took over the game.
Mixing an array of acrobatic shots in the lane with several steals and two unexpected offensive rebounds, Diaz, who normally comes off the bench for M-CHS, scored nine of his 16 total points over the final seven minutes as the Panthers came from behind for a 58-53 victory.
“You have to stay focused the whole time and pull through,” said Diaz, when asked about his clutch play. “You have to keep your head and stay composed.”
Along with Diaz’s heroics, the Panthers’ ability to take care of the ball and come up with key defensive stops served as a central storyline of the hard-fought contest. The game could easily have the other way.
After trailing 14-8 at the end of the first quarter and 24-23 at halftime, M-CHS regained the lead during an impressive third quarter that saw star junior Titus Jackson spark his team with five points over the course of eight minutes and deliver an athletic put-back of a Diaz miss that put his team ahead 39-34 entering the fourth quarter.
“Cortez has lost to (Pagosa) the past four years, so we came in with a chip on our shoulder,” Whiteskunk said. “We knew we could beat them this year with the team we have. It feels good. It’s a good win.”
Although the Panthers were ultimately able to pull away for the victory, the opening minutes of the fourth quarter were anything but comfortable for the home team and its fans as Pagosa Springs opened the quarter on an 11-2 run.
Keying the run was junior forward Mason Snarr, who scored Pagosa Springs’ first seven points of the quarter, thanks to a post move in the lane to draw a foul, an elbow jump shot and a spin move in the lane that resulted in an old-fashioned three-point play.
After M-CHS fell behind 49-43 midway through the quarter, a pair of free throws by Jackson and a steal and fast-break layup by Diaz pulled the Panthers to within two.
A technical foul on Pagosa Springs senior Jesus Pacheco and two subsequent free throws by Whiteskunk tied the game at 49, and a turnaround jumper by Whiteskunk moments later put M-CHS ahead by two.
From then on, it was all Panthers as Diaz converted three free throws in the final minute and Whiteskunk drilled two free throws with 3.7 seconds left to secure the Panthers win.
Whiteskunk scored 20 points, Jackson had nine, Cordell Baer had six, and Jens Jorgensen scored four for M-CHS. Snarr led Pagosa Springs with 17 points, and junior Ryan Lewis had 16 points for the Pirates.
One day after its win over Pagosa Springs, M-CHS traveled to Bayfield for a showdown against the defending Class 3A State Champion Bobcats and lost a heartbreaker, 50-48. With the loss, M-CHS’ record dropped to 9-1 overall and 1-1 in the Intermountain League.
Next up for the Panthers will be a home matchup against Alamosa on Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.