Twelve games into the season, the secret is out. The Mancos Bluejays boys basketball team loves the road.
Continuing their season-long trend of dominating away from home, the Bluejays traveled to Ouray on Jan. 25, besting the Trojans 68-55 and improving their road record to 6-0 on the year.
Keying the Bluejays' big win was another solid performance by sophomore Ro Paschal, who, showcasing a variety of nifty low-post moves, scored a team-high 17 points.
A breakout star for the Bluejays, Paschal is averaging 18 points per game on the year.
"Ro is playing well," said Bluejays' head coach Rodney Cox. "He just has so much potential."
Also playing well for the Bluejays was sophomore Adrien Hernandez, whose offensive contributions helped Mancos jump out to a 40-29 halftime lead. Overall, Hernandez scored 12 points.
"(Hernandez) finally started going to the rim," said Cox, discussing his sophomore's big game. "He's playing with a lot more confidence."
With their season record at 9-3, the Bluejays open a key stretch of games this weekend with a home matchup against Norwood (Jan. 31) and a road matchup against Telluride (Feb. 1).
The Bluejays have not yet played Norwood this season, while Mancos suffered a 56-43 loss to Telluride earlier this season.
"We have to limit our turnovers," said Cox. "Turnovers killed us last time against Telluride. If we limit our turnovers, we'll be fine."