{"id":29481,"date":"2024-01-29T00:08:57","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T07:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-cortez-downs-bayfield-for-regular-season-sweep\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:57:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:57:51","slug":"montezuma-cortez-downs-bayfield-for-regular-season-sweep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-cortez-downs-bayfield-for-regular-season-sweep\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma-Cortez downs Bayfield for regular season sweep"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Panther
Panther senior Markylla Jones dribbles around Bayfield's Madison Mead in a contest at Bayfield High School. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

As the calendar turns to February, high school hoops teams aren\u2019t spending countless hours in the gym focused strictly on fundamentals and team chemistry. By this point in the season, those aspects are baked in to the DNA of the teams vying for big postseason aspirations.<\/p>\n

Include the Panthers girls basketball team among those who have found the successful formula.<\/p>\n

A dynamic M-CHS squad pushed three state powers to the limit in tough road losses within the Intermountain League over the past couple weeks, before flexing their skill set in a 57-27 demolition of Bayfield. Now, the Panthers turn their focus on returning to \u201cThe Jungle\u201d with the hopes of reversing some of those scorelines with a home crowd in their corner.<\/p>\n

\"M-CHS
M-CHS senior Savannah Haselroth wins the opening tip-off against Bayfield's Renae Foutz, with junior Kalea Ogo watching on in a contest at Bayfield High School. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Panthers
Panthers freshman Milah Begay backs into the lane against Bayfield senior Sofia Pour Toujours en Amour in a contest at Bayfield High School. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"M-CHS
M-CHS senior Kayce Tom rises for a shot in a crowded lane in a contest at Bayfield High School. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"M-CHS
M-CHS senior Trenity Tillahash looks to pass the ball in a contest at Bayfield High School. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"M-CHS
M-CHS junior Taylor Whited elevates for a breakaway layup against Bayfield's Renae Foutz in a contest at Bayfield High School. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

It\u2019s an offense under fifth-year head coach Brad Wright where every player who steps to the floor has the confidence to shoot, and a cold spell in the half-court doesn\u2019t necessarily spell doom for the Panthers. Their transition game and court vision have increased scoring efficiency \u2013 the Panthers are scoring nearly 15 points more per contest than a year ago \u2013 while their decision-making allows M-CHS to play games at their tempo.<\/p>\n

Their outing against Bayfield showcased both the court vision and veteran savvy, highlighted by senior Kayce Tom, who was being double-teamed, sliding a no-look pocket pass to classmate Markylla Jones for a wide-open layup in the game\u2019s opening minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work really well together \u2013 and we\u2019ve played together for a long time, through summer ball and all the tournaments,\u201d said senior Savannah Haselroth of the team\u2019s ability to show resiliency on the court and put their three-game losing streak behind them, \u201cand it\u2019s also because we\u2019re really close as a team this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

M-CHS built an 8-0 lead, and all five starters scored in a dominant opening quarter, with the visitors up 15-4. The Panthers moved well off the ball, opening up several back door buckets in the first half \u2013 as the Panthers pulled away with a 26-9 halftime lead.<\/p>\n

Then, when the Panthers (6-6, 2-3 4A\/3A IML) found their half-court offense in a bit of a funk, M-CHS turned up pressure on defense, collecting perimeter steals that led to high-percentage chances at the other end. Eight players scored, led by Haselroth\u2019s 18 points, many of which came as a direct result of pilfered Wolverine passes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel so much more confident this year,\u201d commented Haselroth of her team-leading scoring average and ability to shoot from the perimeter and off the dribble, \u201cI\u2019m not in my head as much as I\u2019ve been in past years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bayfield (3-10, 0-6 4A\/3A IML) tallied half their points at the free throw line, an indication of the Wolverine\u2019s intent to be more aggressive than in past seasons, with junior Renae Foutz leading Bayfield with eight points.<\/p>\n

Jones dominated on the glass, approaching a double-double with her 12-point afternoon, while junior Taylor Whited snagged a bundle of steals on her way to nine points. Sophomore Sariah Jackson added seven points, junior Kalea Ogo scored four, and Tom, senior India Wright, and freshman Milah Begay had a field goal apiece.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarkylla\u2019s a beast on rebounding,\u201d added Haselroth, \u201cwe can always trust that she\u2019s going to be able to take over in the paint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Importantly for restoring confidence, the victory snapped a three-game skid, and allows the Panthers to hone their focus on a five-game stretch that will significantly weigh in on their postseason future. Four of the five games will be played at home, beginning with league rematches of close losses to Alamosa (Feb. 2) and Centauri (Feb. 3) \u2013 followed by a road trip to Dove Creek (Feb. 7), then two more home IML contests against Ignacio (Feb. 9) and Pagosa Springs (Feb. 10) \u2013 their final home game of the regular season.<\/p>\n

The Panthers meeting with Alamosa this Friday night will be broadcast on local radio station 98.7 FM KRTZ, and will also be available on krtzradio.com, with tipoff slated for 5:30 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Panthers head into pivotal home stretch with emphatic win<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1871,28,36,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-29481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bayfield-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29481","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=29481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80762,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29481\/revisions\/80762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29481"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=29481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}