Things got ugly quick for the Nucla Mustangs on their visit to Mancos on Friday night.
The Blue Jays came out in a full-court press and turned steals into points, building a comfortable 19-2 lead before falling back into a half-court defense.
When they weren’t scoring in transition, the Blue Jays half-court offense was methodical, swinging the ball around the arc and getting great interior looks by Andrew Plunkett and Ro Paschal.
Paschal had 13 first-quarter points and Plunkett added eight in the first frame.
“I thought Andrew Plunkett did a good job of attacking the rim,” said head coach Rodney Cox. “He’s so athletic.”
The Blue Jays led 35-4 at the end of one, and although they dialed back the pressure in the second, they continued to get easy buckets, entering the half with a 53-9 lead.
With a huge lead, the atmosphere was loose and relaxed.
And after Paschal missed a breakaway dunk, the 6-foot-5 senior ran back down the court laughing, while his friends in the stands jokingly booed.
Building a 60-point lead after three, the Blue Jays cruised to a 92-11 victory.
Mancos had four scorers in double figures. Paschal led with 26 points, Plunkett followed with 25, Caleb Yoder added 18 and Andrew Christensen scored 14.
Coach Cox couldn’t complain about the 81-point win, but he said following the game that he still saw things the Blue Jays need to work on to be able to compete with the top-tier teams in the league, like Ignacio.
“We’ll take any kind of win we can get,” he said. “Wins are always good. It’s just one of those games that you want to get under your belt and move on.”
“We’ve got a lot of stuff to work on,” he continued. “We’re not anywhere where we need to be.”