{"id":29271,"date":"2024-02-11T03:48:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-11T10:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-defense-stifles-ignacio-on-senior-night\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:52:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:52:38","slug":"panthers-defense-stifles-ignacio-on-senior-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-defense-stifles-ignacio-on-senior-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers defense stifles Ignacio on Senior Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez senior Easton Hartsoe sprints past Ignacio's Devante Montoya on his way to the rim in a contest at M-CHS. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

There aren\u2019t many better venues to put on a show than under the Friday Night Lights.<\/p>\n

The Intermountain League has become one of the standout leagues in the midsize divisions of Colorado high school hoops, and there\u2019s hardly a better place to find yourself than in a gym for a big-time February tussle on a Friday night.<\/p>\n

Montezuma-Cortez High School knew the importance of their first of a regular season-wrapping home-and-home against Ignacio, with each team fighting to secure a spot in the field of 32 in the state\u2019s 3A bracket. The Panthers rose to the occasion Friday in front of a packed house in \u201cThe Jungle,\u201d celebrating their three seniors before scorching the visiting Bobcats, 63-36, with a hard-nosed defensive performance.<\/p>\n

Junior Caiden Leonard fired home six three-pointers in the close contest-turned rout, helping the Panthers pull away in a pair of decisive stretches in the second and early fourth quarters. The first sprint helped the Panthers overturn a 12-9 deficit on their way to a 27-17 halftime lead, while their second flurry blew the game wide open in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez junior Caidin Leonard looks to make an entry pass while being guarded by Ignacio's Coty Webb on Feb. 9 in Cortez. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez junior Tay Wheat attacks the basket Feb, 9 against Ignacio's Trace Crane in Cortez.. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez senior Gael Garcia prepares to elevate for a shot against the defense of Ignacio's Sonny Flores in Cortez Feb. 9..<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ignacio
Ignacio senior Gabe Fox elevates to score over M-CHS' Easton Hartsoe and Trey Hall Feb. 9 in Cortez.Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ignacio jumped out to a 9-4 advantage behind the interior presence of senior Gabe Fox, as the lanky post poured in seven points in the opening minutes, forcing the Panthers to call for time and adjust their defensive approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to start fronting him,\u201d said Panther head coach Mike Hall of the change \u2013 turning to freshman Asher Bennett to do the job, \u201che\u2019s (Bennett) fast and physical, and we knew that\u2019d be one of our options to try to stop Fox.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the shift was made, the entire balance of the game tilted toward the home team, as M-CHS (6-11, 3-6 4A\/3A IML) completely erased the post attack for the Bobcats, forcing Ignacio head coach Chris Valdez\u2019 squad to make perimeter shots.<\/p>\n

For a brief stretch early in the third quarter, the \u2018Cats found their mark from the outside, but after the Panther lead shrank to five midway through the third quarter, M-CHS answered with some big buckets of their own. Leonard drained three triples in quick succession in the third to build the lead back to double figures, and Ignacio would come no closer the rest of the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of Caidin,\u201d said Hall, \u201che\u2019s had some ups and downs this year \u2013 but he was able to fight through it and really broke out tonight \u2013 this is the way he\u2019s capable of playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Bobcats (7-10, 2-6 4A\/3A IML) having to respect the perimeter, the Panthers turned their defensive over-pursuit against them, finding open lanes to the basket, which junior Tay Wheat and senior Easton Hartsoe exploited in a second half scoring flourish that put the game away.<\/p>\n

The comfortable margin allowed the Panthers to fully enjoy the celebration of their three seniors \u2013 Hartsoe, Gael Garcia, and Raul Soto \u2013 who each received an ovation from the home crowd as they left the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cGael and I have been here since we were freshmen,\u201d said Hartsoe after the win, \u201cand Raul has been with us for three years, and so it feels really good to celebrate this with these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wheat finished the night with 14 points to go along with Leonard\u2019s game-high 23, while three Panthers \u2013Bennett, junior Ridge Hathale, and Hartsoe \u2013 tallied a half dozen points apiece.<\/p>\n

Hathale kept the Panthers in the contest early, scoring all three of his field goals in the first quarter to weather through the pressure of the early Bobcat run.<\/p>\n

\u201cRidge knows where to be on the court, he has great vision,\u201d added Hall, \u201cand he knows what his role is on the court \u2013 he doesn\u2019t try to do too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox led the visitors with 12 points, while senior Phillip Quintana added six, but after the Bobcats scored 16 points in the third quarter to hang in the game, Ignacio only scored a lone field goal in the fourth as the Panthers pulled away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis kind of win keeps the energy going,\u201d mentioned Hartsoe, \u201cit\u2019s definitely a boost of confidence \u2013 we left it all on the floor \u2013 and we were able to work together well tonight on both ends of the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

On their last home game of the regular season, the Panthers fell to Pagosa Springs on Saturday, 61-48, but not without a stern battle. The Panthers kept Pagosa within sight all afternoon, but ultimately fell as the Pirates went on a 15-9 fourth quarter run.<\/p>\n

The win over Ignacio, however, maintains the Panthers inside the top 32 in the state\u2019s 3A CHSAA Seeding and Selection Index, while setting up an important pair of contests in the final week of the regular season. On Tuesday, Feb. 13, the Panthers visit Mancos for their annual grudge match, while Ignacio awaits their chance at revenge two days later \u2013 this time in Bobcat territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leonard torches nets for 23; defense puts on masterclass<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-29271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29271","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=29271"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80691,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29271\/revisions\/80691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29271"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=29271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}