After finishing second at the Cowboy Shootout tournament in Meeker, the Mancos High School boys basketball team is confident that it can match up with some of the top Class 2A teams in the state.
Bluejays blast Caprock Academy
Opening the tournament against Caprock Academy on Dec. 11, the Bluejays jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in route to an 89-39 victory.
Mancos led 22-6 after the first quarter and 44-17 at halftime.
"Caprock is kind of new to the whole basketball thing, so they weren't very good," said Mancos head coach Rodney Cox.
"I'm proud of our kids though. They were sitting on a bus for nine hours, and they came out and put up 89 points," he added.
Leading Mancos in the victory, center Ro Paschal scored 21 points. Jayden Peacock added 17 points, Andrew Plunkett scored 16, and Brandon Hood-Farley chipped in 12.
"Anytime we needed something to happen, (Plunkett) was the one who made it happen," said Cox.
"Jayden is just really solid. He's done a really good job for us defensively. I'm pretty impressed with him," Cox said.
Bluejays race past Rangely in second game
Playing its second game of the tournament against Rangely on Dec. 12, the Bluejays utilized a diversified attack to score a 65-49 victory.
Mancos led 13-6 at halftime and 28-15 at halftime.
"(Rangely) had a couple of kids who were about 6-feet-3 and could really leap," Cox said.
"They also had a freshman who could really handle the ball. Adrian (Hernandez) did a great job defending him," he added.
Paschal paced Mancos in points with 21, Nigel Henry scored 14 points, Plunkett scored eight points, and Daniel Christiansen had seven.
"Nigel is doing a great job of distributing the ball," said Cox. "He's doing a good job of knowing when to pass and when to score."
Bluejays lose close game to Meeker
Matching up with Meeker in the tournament championship on Dec. 13, the Bluejays went toe-to-toe with the state's seventh-ranked Class 2A team, losing 66-63.
After trailing 30-24 at halftime and 49-36 at the end of the third quarter, Mancos outscored Meeker 27-17 in the fourth quarter and nearly stole the victory.
Henry led the Bluejays with 22 points, and Paschal added 19.
"The game was extremely physical," said Cox. Our conditioning and the kids' willingness to keep pushing was key. We ran full -court man-to-man defense the whole game, and I think we wore them down. We just ran out of time."
Cox said that Bluejays players dedicated their performance in the tournament to junior varsity freshman Hayden Kocourek, who has recently experienced health problems.
"The boys wanted to play well for (Hayden)," said Cox. "He was on everyone's mind.
After playing at home against Center High School on Dec. 16, the Bluejays will play their final game before Christmas on the road against Bayfield on Dec. 18.