Over the course of five days, the Mancos High School boys basketball team defeated Dolores, Dove Creek and Telluride.
Bluejays soar past Bears
Prior to tip off against Dolores, the energy in the Dolores High School was palpable. Bears players slapped hands, Bluejays players oozed intensity, and Mancos head coach Rodney Cox shouted instructions.
Once the ball was thrown into the air and the Bluejays dominated, controlling all facets of the game in route to a relatively easy 63-28 victory.
Keying the win was the play of junior center Ro Paschal and senior forward Daniel Christensen, who both scored 17 points and controlled the paint on both offense and defense.
"If we can get the ball inside, it opens everything up," said Mancos head coach Rodney Cox. "We can get outside shots, penetration and we have rebounders in position."
Just how dominant the Bluejays post players would be became evident early as Mancos raced to a 17-4 first-quarter lead.
Mancos continued to apply pressure in the second quarter and after senior Nigel Henry stole a ball, streaked down the right side and hit Jayden Peacock with a bounce pass to set up a left-handed layup. Mancos led 23-5.
Later in the quarter, junior Adrian Hernandez stole the ball, dribbled down the left side of the lane and flipped the ball to Henry, who scored from the right block to put Mancos ahead 39-14.
"When we get out and run, we're pretty dangerous," said Hernandez. "Going fast is our kind of game. We played pretty well and executed the way that we wanted to most of the time."
The Bluejays pulled their starters halfway through the third quarter, yet still led 55-21 entering the fourth.
Mancos reserves moved the ball well on offense and played solid defense over the final eight minutes to bring home the victory. Nearly every player on the Bluejays roster had at least one assist.
"We are playing unselfish basketball," said Cox. "Nobody cares how many points they have. It's just a unique group."
Senior post Brandon Hood-Farley scored 10 points, junior Andrew Plunkett scored eight points, and Peacock had six.
Bluejays blast Dove Creek
Three days after defeating Dolores, the Bluejays welcomed Dove Creek to Mancos and after a lopsided first quarter, Mancos coasted to a 75-47 win.
Paschal and Henry led the Bluejays with 15 points each and Brandon Hood-Farley scored 13. Five Mancos players scored in double digits.
Mancos led 22-8 at the end of the first quarter and 39-21 at halftime. Despite the lopsided score however, Cox said that the Bulldogs impressed him.
"Dove Creek is a good basketball team," said the Mancos coach. "They have some size, but had a little more size and a little more depth."
Bluejays push past Telluride
Wrapping up the week at home against Telluride on Jan. 31, Mancos started slow before pulling away for a 78-60 victory.
Christensen scored 25 points, Paschal scored 20 points and Henry scored 15 points in the Mancos victory.
The Bluejays struggled to solve Telluride's 1-3-1 zone throughout the first half however, and after Telluride's Gage Livermore drilled four three-pointers in the first half, the game was tied 25-25 at halftime.
"Our offense was kind of stagnant and we weren't feeing the posts like we like to," said Christensen, describing the first half. "Our defense was a little lax."
Mancos seized control in the third quarter however, thanks in large part to the high-low combination of Paschal and Christensen, who consistently fed the ball from the high post to the low block for easy buckets.
"At halftime, we talked about getting the ball inside to the high post," Paschal said. "Everything opened up after we did that."
Also contributing to the Mancos win was strong play on the defensive end headlined by three highlight-reel blocks by Paschal in the second half.
"Our coach tells us not to block shots, but I was a little bit tempted in the second half," said Paschal. "Once I got a couple, he was like, 'go for it and protect the rim.'"
With the wins, Mancos improved to 9-4 on the season.
"I think that we can make it to state and win the championship," said senior forward Fidel Avalos. "That's been our goal since last year."