For The Journal
The 3A Intermountain League has proven its mettle as one of the toughest conferences in the classification. With each passing week, the Montezuma-Cortez girls kept clawing their way closer to the top tier of the standings.
Hosting the consolation round of the 3A IML tournament, the Panthers on Monday gave state-ranked Centauri all they could handle before finally falling 50-40 in the third-place contest.
With a potential berth into the 3A Regional tournament on the line, the Panthers blasted out of the gate with a sense of urgency. While shots weren’t dropping at the offensive end early, the Panther (8-12) defense swarmed to the ball, taking the Falcons out of their early game plan. Junior Dimery Plewe knocked in a short jumper to tie the game at four, and spark a drawn-out 10-0 run for the hosts.
The Panthers held Centauri to just two field goals in the first 11 minutes of action, building a 12-4 lead midway through the second quarter. Junior Malia Begay knocked in a three-pointer during the run, while the Panthers held the Falcons scoreless for a period of seven consecutive minutes.
Since the inside game wasn’t working for Centauri, they turned to the perimeter, where senior Melissa Wilson began to turn the tide, thanks to back-to-back three pointers to cut the deficit to two points.
The two teams exchanged baskets down the stretch, with Panther junior Presley Frost tallying four points right before the break, and the Panthers headed to the locker room in a promising low-scoring affair tied at 17.
Sophomore Paige Yarbrough poured in a lay-in to begin the second half and restore the Panther lead, but at the other end, the Falcons began to find some offensive rhythm. Shots that hadn’t fallen in the first 16 minutes were beginning to drop. Even when they weren’t falling, Centauri became frequent visitors to the charity stripe, making 11 second-half free throws.
All the while, Wilson kept burying shots, knocking in a total of five threes, each one stunting a potential Panther run. Wilson finished with game-high honors, scoring 21 points on the afternoon.
M-CHS entered the fourth quarter down 31-24, but could never get any closer than seven the rest of the way. Yarbrough scored four points in the quarter to finish as the only Panther in double figures, accounting for 10 of the Panther points. Junior Taelynn Comisky added eight points in the losing effort.
While the loss means that the Panthers will now have to wait to see if they receive one of the coveted at-large bids based on their RPI, the 10-point margin was significantly better than their regular season losses to Centauri, where they dropped the two previous meetings by a combined 65 points.
The Panthers also collected eight wins during the season, matching their best output since the 2015-16 season. On Tuesday, CHSAA will officially announce its field 32 teams that will vie for a 3A state championship over the next two weekends.