The first half of the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers’ (3-10) game against the Durango Demons (9-4) lived up to the hype.
For Cortez, the first quarter was the Engel brothers’ show. Aron and Jasen Engel combined to score the Panthers’ first 11 points, and each of them hit two 3-pointers.
But Durango senior Orion Clay scored 12 in the opening frame to keep the Demons within four points to start the second.
Both teams continued their red-hot shooting in the second quarter, but it was the big men who took over.
M-CHS senior Luis Perry dropped in buckets inside – and was a near-perfect 7-of-8 from the free-throw line for 15 points – and Durango senior Scott Morse scored 11 to send Durango to the half with a 45-43 lead.
“I don’t know what [Durango] was that first half shooting percentage-wise, but it was like they couldn’t miss a shot,” said M-CHS head coach Mike Hall. “I just told them, ‘Keep contesting. They’re going to start missing and we’ll get our run.’ I was very pleased with how we played in the first half.”
Durango head coach Alan Batiste said that giving up 43 first-half points was an “effort thing,” and his team clamped down and held the Panthers to six points in the third quarter.
“That’s been our M-O for probably our last seven games,” said Batiste. “The teams are coming out hot, shooting the ball well. This is our fourth straight game where we’ve given up over 30 points at half. But then in the second half we’ve always got something that clicks.”
Midway through the third, the Panthers had scored just two points on a Daniel Fernandez jumper in the lane and trailed by seven, but the home crowd was still vocal.
But the momentum swung in Durango’s favor in a hurry.
M-CHS turned the ball over on an inbounds pass and Clay collected the loose ball and drove down court for a monster two-handed slam that sent the Durango crowd into a frenzy.
Then, the Demons scored on their next two possessions for a quick 6-0 run to build an 11-point lead, ending the quarter up 60-49.
“It changed momentum a lot,” Hall said after the game. “You could feel it shift right towards Durango’s side. I just called a timeout and told them to calm down and they’ll be fine, just work through it. It’s early in the game still, don’t worry about it, we’ll get back.”
The Panthers pulled within seven after consecutive 3-pointers by Aron Engel with under three minutes to play – and Jasen Engel knocked in another triple to trim the Demons’ lead to 66-62 with 1:45 remaining – but the Panthers would get no closer than four, and Durango held on to win, 77-66.
Clay led Durango with 23 points, Lucas Baken finished with 18 and Morse scored 16. Perry’s 19 points led the Panthers, and the Engel brothers scored 15 points each.
“I think we’re going to hope it lights a fire for the next game,” Hall said following the loss. “We’ve got to get a league win. We go to Montrose and Fruita, those are both hard places to play, so we’ve got to go get a league win. We’ve got to use this energy from the last two games that we’ve played and take advantage of it.”