The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate basketball team split its matchups last week and now sit at 10-10 with two weeks left in the regular season.
The Pirates started the week with a 57-42 win over the No. 36 Alamosa Mean Moose at home on Friday, Feb. 13.
The boys took an early 15-10 lead after the first and extended their lead to 16 points going into halftime.
The Mean Moose cut the lead to 13 points after three quarters, but the Pirates thwarted their comeback effort, outscoring Alamosa 11-9 in the fourth for the 15-point win.
“We played really well, led start to finish, held the best scorer to six points,” said coach Brandon Forster. “Overall, for us, it was a good defensive win.”
Jeremiah Jones led the Pirates with 14 points in the contest. Ty Richey finished with 11, Creede Dozier had 10, Duke Ketchum added eight, Bode Hubbard scored seven, Koen Pitcher finished with four and Jayton Ross rounded out the scoring with three points.
Richey finished with a double-double, leading the team with 11 rebounds. Dozier added seven, Jones had five, and Ross and Hubbard each added three.
As a team, the Pirates shot 39 percent from the field, 13 percent from 3-point line and 58 percent from the free-throw line.
They also hauled in 35 total rebounds, assisted on 14 of their 22 made field goals, finished with nine steals and turned the ball over 10 times.
The Pirates then ended the week with a 72-54 loss in Cortez on Saturday, Feb. 14, against the No. 2 Montezuma-Cortez Panthers.
The Pirates started slow, finishing the first quarter down 23-2.
They outscored the Panthers 52-49 in the rest of the game, but it wasn’t enough after digging themselves into a 21-point hole after the first quarter.
“They really played well and did outscore them in every other quarter, but a team like Cortez, you really can’t spot them 21 points and then expect to get back in the game,” Forster said.
Dozier led the team with 20 points in the contest. Ketchum added 11. Richey had seven, Kasen Limebrook, Hubbard and Pitcher all had four points. Jerry Dean and Jones each had two to round out the scoring.
Richey led the team with eight rebounds. Limebrook and Ketchum each had five. Pitcher and Jones each had three. Dean, Dozier, Hubbard and Ross all had one.
As a team the Pirates shot 40 percent from the field, 25 percent from 3-point line and 50 percent from the foul line.
They grabbed 28 total rebounds, assisted on nine of their 22 made field goals, finished with five steals and turned the ball over 17 times.
“It’s a never-give-up attitude with these kids,” Forster said. “They don’t give up on themselves. They don’t give up on their teammates.”
The Pirates are now the 28th-ranked team in 4A and have two more games this week.
The team will start with a home game against the 27th-ranked 3A Centauri Falcons, who are 10-10 on the season, on Thursday, Feb. 19, beginning at 7 p.m.
The Pirates will finish out the week on the road against the No. 2-ranked 2A Sanford Mustangs, who are 18-1 on the season, on Friday, Feb. 20, beginning at 8 p.m.
“Good basketball overall,” Forster said, explaining, “Both really physical teams that can play basketball, so we need to be sharp defensively, take care of the ball, and put the ball in the basket, at least.”
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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