Playing its final two games of the regular season, the Mancos High School boys basketball team cast the impression that it could be primed for a long postseason run.
Bluejays scorch Bears
Opening last weekend at home against Dolores High School on Feb. 20, Mancos built a 22-point lead in the first half and never looked back on its way to a 67-31 victory.
The win marked the Bluejays' second of the season over the Bears and left Mancos head coach Rodney Cox pleased.
"The Dolores game was good for us," said Cox. "Our seniors got to play a lot. Ro was sick, and Adrian was injured.
Senior forward Brandon Hood-Farley, junior forward Andrew Plunkett and senior guard Nigel Henry each scored 12 points for the Bluejays, who played without leading scorer Ro Paschal.
"Ro was sick, and Adrian was injured," said Cox. Our seniors got to play a lot. It's huge to have talented basketball players eight or nine deep."
Mancos downs Ouray
Playing their second game of the weekend at home against Ouray on Feb. 21, Mancos fell behind early before coming from behind to defeat Ouray 72-62.
Mancos trailed 30-20 at the end of the first quarter before outscoring Ouray 19-9 in the second to tie the game at 39 entering halftime.
"We were down 10 in the first quarter. Jayden (Peacock) got on fire in the second quarter, and we put everything together.
Hood-Farley led the Bluejays in scoring with 19 points, and senior point guard Jayden Peacock scored 18 points on six three-point field goals. Paschal missed his second consecutive game with the flu.
With the win, Mancos improved to 14-5 on the season. Ouray fell to 15-3.
Next up for the Bluejays will be the five-team Class 2A District 3 Tournament on Feb. 24 at various locations.
Mancos will enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 3 seed Telluride at Montezuma-Cortez High School at 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 27. The top three teams in the tournament will advance to regionals.
"We're going to take the same approach (to the districts) that we've had all year," said Cox. "We need to focus on the things that we need to get better at, and we'll see what happens."