Basketball Recap: Montezuma-Cortez Comes Up Short

Montezuma-Cortez easily dispatched Alamosa last Saturday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. The Montezuma-Cortez Panthers fell just short of the Montrose Red Hawks by a score of 57-55 on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 102nd, while the Red Hawks are ranked 31st).

Despite the loss, Montezuma-Cortez still got an impressive performance from Trey Hall, who went 8 of 13 on his way to 23 points and seven rebounds. Hall's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Ah-Dae Lang, who posted 11 points.

Even though they lost, Montezuma-Cortez smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in three consecutive matchups.

Montrose's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kaleb Ferguson led the charge by as he made all 7 shots he took for 15 points and six boards. Ferguson is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last five games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Brody Cooling, who went 5 for 6 en route to 12 points in addition to six rebounds and five assists.

Montezuma-Cortez has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-4 record this season. As for Montrose, they pushed their record up to 13-2 with the victory, which was their ninth straight at home.

Montezuma-Cortez has already played their next contest (against Pagosa Springs), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Montrose will look to defend their home court on Friday against Durango at 7:00 p.m. Montrose is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.5 points per game this season.