The Cortez Middle School boys A-team finished the season undefeated on Saturday and claimed the San Juan Basin League championship.
After an 8-0 regular season, the Jaguars beat Pagosa Springs 37-35 in the league semifinals, and then defeated Escalante 40-38 in the championship game to end the year with a 10-0 record.
Head coach Lucas Anliker said that the tournament games were two of their closest all season, and that Andrew Wood and Josh Chupp hit key free throws down the stretch to close out the championship game.
He also pointed to Teagan Whiteskunk’s half-court shot against Miller as one of the highlights of the year.
In one of the few games that the team trailed, Whiteskunk gave the Jaguars a lift heading into the half.
“Three seconds left, we threw it in and he jacked it from half-court,” Anliker recalled. “Nothing but net to put us ahead at halftime.”
Last year, both the CMS A-team and B-team won league titles.
And after playing on last year’s 12-0 B-team and this season’s undefeated A-team, Whiteskunk, Titus Jackson, Adrian Mark, Blake Keetch and Justin Gray finish their middle school careers with a 22-0 record and consecutive championships.
