{"id":12311,"date":"2026-03-12T01:46:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-magical-season-runs-out-of-steam-against-university-in-great-eight\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:32:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:32:43","slug":"panthers-magical-season-runs-out-of-steam-against-university-in-great-eight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-magical-season-runs-out-of-steam-against-university-in-great-eight\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers\u2019 magical season runs out of steam against University in Great Eight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez junior Trey Hall fires a jumper over University\u2019s John Elbe and River Sawyer in their 4A Great Eight matchup in the Denver Coliseum. The Panthers fell to the Bulldogs, 72-63, to close out their season with a record of 25-1. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

DENVER \u2013 With a season like this, head coach Mike Hall and the Panthers never wanted the ride to end.<\/p>\n

In their first state tournament appearance in seven years, the Panthers hoped their postseason ride would stretch to championship Saturday. Instead, on Wednesday night, M-CHS ran into a University squad that mirrored the same pressure and energy the Panthers had used to overwhelm opponents all season.<\/p>\n

A second\u2011half Bulldogs surge, powered by high\u2011press turnovers, turned a 43\u201337 M\u2013CHS lead into a 15\u2011point University advantage. The No. 10 Bulldogs held off one final push to secure a 72\u201363 win in the 4A state tournament at the Denver Coliseum.<\/p>\n

M\u2011CHS (25\u20111) faced early turbulence under the bright lights of the historic arena, falling behind 15\u20116. The No.\u202f2 Panthers answered with one of several extended runs, building momentum late in the first quarter and into the second to take control.<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez senior Trace Hartsoe looks for a teammate to pass to against the defense of University\u2019s Grant Weber in the Great Eight meeting in the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday night. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

M-CHS (25-1) could easily have been overwhelmed under the bright lights of the historic arena \u2013 and an early 15-6 deficit might have given them major cause for concern. The No. 2 seed responded with one of several major runs, extending a run through the late first quarter and into the early second stanza that eventually lifted the Panthers into the lead.<\/p>\n

Junior Trey Hall and senior Trace Hartsoe combined for 22 first\u2011half points, including during a burst that lifted M\u2011CHS ahead 22\u201119 midway through the second. Sophomore Royce Watts and senior Wyatt Oliver each hit a three as the Panthers outscored University 23\u201114 in the quarter and carried a 34\u201131 lead into halftime.<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez head coach Mike Hall calls out a play for his team in their state quarterfinal against University in the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday night. The Panthers fell 72-63 to the Bulldogs to close out their season with a 25-1 record. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Sophomore Justin Bane added four of his six points during that second\u2011quarter stretch, then scored again as M\u2011CHS pushed its lead to six midway through the third.<\/p>\n

University countered with transition layups that shifted momentum. Senior Coehn Nitzel, stationed at the top of the Bulldogs press, repeatedly turned steals into quick baskets as University intensified its pressure.<\/p>\n

By the end of the third, the Panthers\u2019 lead had vanished. University held a 50\u201149 edge, then opened the fourth with 10 straight points to put M\u2011CHS in trouble.<\/p>\n

After the deficit grew to 15, the Panthers mounted one last comeback attempt. Oliver sank his third three of the night, Hartsoe scored on a putback and junior Asher Bennetts added a basket to trim the margin to 68\u201163. That was as close as M\u2011CHS would get, as University closed out the game at the free\u2011throw line.<\/p>\n

Head coach Mike Hall subbed in his bench late to ensure the full roster experienced the program\u2019s first state\u2011tournament run in seven years.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hall finished with 22 points, while Hartsoe added 16. Oliver scored nine, and Watts and Bane contributed six apiece.<\/p>\n

Nitzel led University with 26 points, including 22 after halftime. Classmate River Sawyer added 19, with 13 before the break.<\/p>\n

M\u2011CHS ends one of the winningest seasons in program history at 25\u20111. The Panthers won the IML title and earned their first regional championship since 2019. Seniors Hartsoe, Oliver and Eli Slim close out careers that saw the program rise from a seven\u2011win freshman season to one of the best years in school history.<\/p>\n

University advances to face Peak to Peak in the semifinals. Defending champion Kent Denver meets Timnath in the other 4A semifinal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

M-CHS lead evaporates in second half as Bulldogs knock out Panthers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-12311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12311"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20635,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311\/revisions\/20635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12311"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=12311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}