With the regular season winding down and postseason games on the horizon, the Mancos High School boys basketball team is playing better than it has all season and appears primed for a postseason run.
Among the Bluejays’ latest victories was a convincing 66-36 home victory over Nucla on Feb. 10. Mancos led 13-12 at the end of the first quarter and 30-21 at halftime before outscoring the Mustangs 38-15 in the second half.
Senior Mike Bird led Nucla in scoring with 11 points, and senior Shelton Morgan and junior Leo Zunich each scored 7. Statistics for Mancos players were not available as of press time.
One day before defeating Nucla, the Bluejays traveled to Norwood and ground their way to a hard-fought 44-37 victory. Mancos jumped ahead early and carried an 11-4 lead into the second quarter and a 20-8 lead into halftime. After a hard-fought third quarter, the Bluejays led 34-23 and although Norwood made a run during the final eight minutes, Mancos held on for the victory.
Senior guard Caleb Yoder led the Bluejays in scoring with 19 points and sophomore Caden Showalter scored 14 points and pulled down 19 rebounds. Senior Jake Mckie scored 4 points, freshman Christian Cova scored 3 points, and Nic Huver and Hunter Hoover each scored 2.
Now 13-4 overall and 8-3 in the San Juan Basin League, the Bluejays will close out their regular season with a home game against Ignacio on Feb. 15 and a road game against Dolores on Feb. 16.
Both contests will be crucial as Mancos currently sits second overall in the league and is just half a game ahead of third-place Telluride. Fourth place Ouray two is one game behind Mancos and fifth-place Dolores sits two games back.
Ignacio, Mancos, Telluride, Dolores, Ridgway, and Norwood will face off in a six-team Class 2A District Tournament and the top three-teams emerging from that tournament will advance to Regionals.