Two Mancos senior basketball standouts get one more shot at high school glory.
Emilio Marquez and Kendra Cox have been selected to play in the 55th Colorado High School Coaches Association All-State basketball games on Saturday, June 11, at Plachy Hall on the campus of Adams State College in Alamosa.
Marquez will represent the Red team coached by Jeff Kloster of Longmont and Chris Valdez of Ignacio, winners of the San Juan Basin League. They will take on the Black team.
Cox will suit up for the girls Black team coached by Wes Lewis of Pagosa Springs and Len Gates of Buena Vista, as they face the Red team. This is Coxs second All-Star game of the year, as she played in the Colorado Coaches of Girls Sports All-State game March 25.
Players are selected by the coaches of the All-State games and by members of CHSCA.
The senior captains led Mancos in points and assists per game. Marquez averaged 20.3 ppg his senior year, including a career high of 36 points at Ridgway. The point guard totaled 35 points his next game in a home win over Aztec (N.M.), and led the Bluejays in assists (3.7 pg) and steals (1.9 pg).
Ive always liked basketball a lot more, and I hope to go play in college, said Marquez, who turned down an invitation to the 8-man All-State football game to play in the CHSCA All-State basketball game.
Marquezs head coach at Mancos, Gary Hill, is pleased with his decision to play in the All-State basketball game.
I just think hes a very deserving young man. Its more than just four years; hes been a basketball junkie forever. He has a great work ethic and was a great leader for us. Im very happy for Emilio, Hill said. Emilio was a great shooter, handled the ball well, a high basketball IQ, an on-the-floor leader. Those are the intangibles you want in a point guard.
Marquez will attend college at Fort Lewis in Durango in the fall and hopes to walk-on to the Skyhawks basketball team. He is leaning toward majoring in exorcise science to one day become a coach. Fort Lewis close to home, which is important to Marquez.
Everything I like to do is around here. I dont really like the big city very much, he said.
Hill would have liked to have seen Marquez receive a basketball scholarship but is glad to see his former star go to Fort Lewis.
A kid from a small school, thats what they have to do often times, Hill said about Marquez attempting to walk-on to the Skyhawks. You lay it out on the line and have no regret. Im very pleased to hear hes going to try and walk-on at the Fort.
Marquez also runs in the sprinting events for the Bluejays track team, and will be at the state meet in Lakewood this weekend participating in the 4 x 100, 200-, 400- and 800-meter relays. Marquez hopes he and his longtime teammates can be successful together one last time in high school.
We didnt really end the note very well in football and basketball, so were hoping to go out on a good note in track, he said. I went to school with most of my seniors since we were in kindergarten. Some of them even preschool. Its been a fun journey.
Cox led the Lady Bluejays, averaging 10.6 ppg, 2.2 apg and 1.2 blocks pg as a senior. The guard/forward hit five 3s against Bayfield on Jan. 11, en route to a team high 19 points. Cox had a career high of 22 points at Dolores as a junior.
I just think its really cool. Its just an honor, Cox, who was also a varsity volleyball standout, said about her All-State game selection. (Im going to) go there for fun, meet new people and just play.
Team play and the friendships in sports formed at Mancos is what Cox will remember the most.
Just all the bus rides home were always fun. Those kind of things, more so than anything else. The fun times in practices, wed make fun of each other, that kind of stuff. All the good times we had, she said.
Ronda Cox, Kendras mother, coached her daughter on the Lady Bluejays basketball team and said it was a lifelong experience.
Its been a pleasure. Its been a lot of fun, great memories. I sure will miss it, Ronda Cox said. Ill miss it, but Im ready for her to move on to the next chapter in her life. Shes got a level head. Shes going to be all right. Shes a really good student and a good person.
Cox, who said her mom was a huge high school influence being her basketball coach, is a 4.0 student and has been named a co-valedictorian of the 2011 Mancos High School class. She also has a head start in college, going to Fort Lewis part-time during the last spring semester. In the fall, Cox will become a full-time student at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, where she will major in animal science and agricultural business. Cox chose her course of study because of her 4-H background, which she has experience in showing livestock pigs.
I just love doing that. I wanted to pursue something in that area, She said. Im going more for genetics and nutrition.
Cox received a $2,000 annual scholarship to attend WTAMU, plus instate tuition.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at [email protected].
