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Defensive prowess: MCHS girls basketball buckles down on defense in 40-29 victory

Joshua Gordon
The Moffat County High School girls varsity basketball team used a hard-nosed defense Friday to defeat Montrose High School, 40-29, in the first round of the Black Canyon Classic at Montrose High School. Head coach Matt Ray said the team limited turnovers and didn’t allow any fast-break points in a hard-fought battle.
Joshua Gordon

Results ...

Box score from the Moffat County High School girls varsity basketball team’s game Friday against Montrose High School in the Black Canyon Classic at Montrose High School:

(1st — 2nd — 3rd — 4th — final)

• Moffat County: 4 — 10 — 14 — 12 — 40

• Montrose: 8 — 5 — 6 — 10 — 29

MCHS leading scorers:

(Name — points)

• Kori Finneman — 9

• Makayla Camilletti — 8

• Annie Sadvar — 8

• Lisa Camilletti — 4

• Bailey Hellander — 4





The Moffat County High School girls varsity basketball team used a hard-nosed defense Friday to defeat Montrose High School, 40-29, in the first round of the Black Canyon Classic at Montrose High School. Head coach Matt Ray said the team limited turnovers and didn’t allow any fast-break points in a hard-fought battle.
Joshua Gordon

Results …

Box score from the Moffat County High School girls varsity basketball team’s game Friday against Montrose High School in the Black Canyon Classic at Montrose High School:

(1st — 2nd — 3rd — 4th — final)

• Moffat County: 4 — 10 — 14 — 12 — 40



• Montrose: 8 — 5 — 6 — 10 — 29

MCHS leading scorers:



(Name — points)

• Kori Finneman — 9

• Makayla Camilletti — 8

• Annie Sadvar — 8

• Lisa Camilletti — 4

• Bailey Hellander — 4

The Moffat County High School girls varsity basketball team usually wins games with a great offensive performance.

On Friday, however, it was the Bulldogs defense that stepped up in the first round of the Black Canyon Classic against Montrose High School.

MCHS held Montrose under 10 points in each of the first three quarters and used a well-rounded scoring attack en rout to a 40-29 victory.

“It was a very good defensive battle,” head coach Matt Ray said. “It was in your face, you had to move your feet and it was hard to get a shot off on both sides. We had to cut hard and screen hard to get the shot we wanted.”

The Bulldogs (4-3) led 14-13 at halftime and outscored Montrose, 14-6, in the third quarter.

Ray said the team hasn’t worked on defense much in practice, mostly focusing on offense, but his players showed up Friday.

The Bulldogs worked on getting back on defense and rebounding, Ray said, in the week leading up to the tournament in Montrose.

“All week in practice, we worked on not turning the ball over and not letting any fast breaks, and we did well in both this game,” he said. “We had a hand in their face on each shot and tried to only let them get one shot. They were out rebounding us in the first half, but in the second, we did the things we had to.”

Junior Kori Finneman led the offensive attack for the Bulldogs with nine points.

Fellow Junior Makayla Camilletti and senior Annie Sadvar added eight points each.

Senior Melissa Camilletti had three points after averaging over 19 points per game in each of the team’s first six games.

Ray said Montrose’s defense keyed in on Melissa, forcing other players to step up.

“(Friday), we had a great balance because they took Melissa out of the game,” he said. “Lisa probably had her best game, Kori scored nine points off the bench and everybody stepped up.

“They couldn’t just defend one or two of our players because everyone was stepping up.”

Ray said turnovers are common with the offensive set the Bulldogs run.

Against Montrose, however, the Bulldogs had less than 10 turnovers throughout the game.

“We were patient and didn’t force things,” Ray said. “We took care of the ball and had to battle for everything we got. We knew (Montrose) would have a tough defense coming in, and they did what we expected, but our girls answered.”

The Bulldogs will play Grand Junction at 11 a.m. and Fruita-Monument at 3:30 p.m. today.

Ray said he and the players had a chance to watch both teams play Friday and will play another tough defense in Grand Junction.

Rest was a priority against Montrose, Ray said, so each player would be ready for the double-header today.

“We had seven girls subbing in and almost everyone only played three quarters,” he said. “Everyone should be fresh and ready to go. Grand Junction is bigger than us, so we need to be rested up and ready so we don’t have a let down.”

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