{"id":13832,"date":"2026-01-23T12:06:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-boys-basketball-honors-halls-100th-win\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:41:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:41:02","slug":"panthers-boys-basketball-honors-halls-100th-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-boys-basketball-honors-halls-100th-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers boys basketball honors Hall\u2019s 100th win"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"M-CHS
M-CHS boys basketball head coach Mike Hall holds a commemorative basketball honoring his 100th win for the program in a victory over Rehoboth Christian earlier this season. Photo courtesy of M-CHS Athletics<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

CORTEZ \u2013 The number of people influenced by Montezuma\u2011Cortez boys basketball coach Mike Hall far exceeds the signatures on the celebratory basketball he received from his players after earning his 100th career victory earlier this season.<\/p>\n

A look at the coaching tree that has grown during Hall\u2019s tenure shows how he is viewed by former players and coaching proteges as a leader both on and off the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s continued to grow the culture of the program,\u201d said assistant coach and former player Teagan Whiteskunk. \u201cWe\u2019re in a whole different place than when I played six years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whiteskunk, M\u2011CHS Class of 2020, is one of two former Panthers now on Hall\u2019s staff, joining Class of 2019 graduate Cordell Baer. Both played key roles during Hall\u2019s successful 2018\u201119 campaign and witnessed the program\u2019s methodical rise, built around developing a young core into a legitimate state tournament contender.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been dedicated to basketball, and it\u2019s something that I\u2019ve wanted to share with the community,\u201d Whiteskunk said of his decision to start coaching. \u201cAnd I saw how much Mike dedicated himself to this program, so it made it easy to want to follow him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma\u2011Cortez
Montezuma\u2011Cortez High School boys basketball head coach Mike Hall earned his 100th career victory earlier this season.Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Panthers\u2019 win total continues to climb as they enjoy one of their best seasons since their 2018\u201119 state quarterfinal appearance and 2002 state title run.<\/p>\n

Hall reached the 100\u2011win milestone with a 58\u201134 road victory at Rehoboth Christian in December, one of six out\u2011of\u2011state wins this season.<\/p>\n

Baer, now leading the freshman team in his coaching debut, said Hall\u2019s connection with his players set him apart. \u201cThe players view him as a coach, but they also see him as a friend,\u201d Baer said. \u201cThe kids want to work hard for him, because he\u2019s an advocate who wants all of his kids to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even during challenging seasons, Baer said Hall\u2019s steadiness never wavered. \u201cMike\u2019s been consistent, and his coaching style hasn\u2019t changed since the time I was playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whiteskunk added: \u201cHe always reminds his players that \u2018practice is where it starts.\u2019 Since he has Cordell and I on the coaching staff and we\u2019ve been through the process, it helps our boys believe in what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former
Former Montezuma\u2011Cortez High School players and current assistant coaches Teagan Whiteskunk and Cordell Baer (seated at left) now work alongside their former coach, head coach Mike Hall, who earned his 100th win earlier this season.Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Now in his fifth season as an assistant, Whiteskunk oversees the junior varsity program, stepping into a role previously held by M.E. Haley, who took over the M\u2011CHS girls team this past offseason. Haley now coaches Hall\u2019s daughter, Raya, and a promising young Panthers group. She said the lessons she learned working alongside Hall translated naturally into her new job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned a lot about his expectations, and helping the kids learn what they can control, whether it be attitude or effort, and then everything else follows,\u201d Haley said.<\/p>\n

Hall took over the boys program in 2014, when the Panthers still played in the 5A\/4A Southwestern League, before moving to Class 3A and joining the Intermountain League two years later. \u201cHe\u2019s had to make a lot of adaptations, seeing what works with different groups,\u201d Haley said. \u201cAnd his leadership through all of those changes has been huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Hall is not a classroom teacher, he remains deeply involved in the lives of his athletes by contributing heavily to youth basketball development and summer camps. \u201cMike\u2019s personality is \u2018I\u2019m here to help, no matter what\u2019 \u2026 and he legitimately cares for his kids, and it shows,\u201d Haley said.<\/p>\n

After last year\u2019s league runner\u2011up finish, the Panthers again appear poised for a strong postseason push. Hall is not focused on milestone wins, but with the team\u2019s one\u2011game\u2011at\u2011a\u2011time mentality and rapid progress, another 100 victories may not be far out of reach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hall\u2019s coaching tree testament to his impact on the M-CHS program<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13833,"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-13832","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\/13832","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=13832"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19183,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13832\/revisions\/19183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13832"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}