Fast start not enough for C-M boys in district loss to Melcher-Dallas

COLFAX — The start of the Class 1A District 11 boys basketball game couldn’t have been any better for Colfax-Mingo.

The Tigerhawks built a 16-point lead in the first quarter and pushed that margin to 18 in the second, but struggled to score in the final two frames during a 67-60 loss to Melcher-Dallas on Friday.

Colfax-Mingo scored more points in each of the first two quarters than it did in the second half and the Saints’ big comeback was led by Drew Heaberlin’s 23-point effort.

“We got flustered. We always come out of the second half slow,” C-M senior Harrison Rhone said. “The other team just started hitting shots, and we couldn’t respond. I tried my best to even the odds, but I wasn’t hitting.”

Rhone needed 27 points to reach 1,000 for his career. He scored 28 but put in 23 of those in the first half.

The Tigerhawks led 25-11 after one quarter and both teams scored 18 points in the second. C-M ended the first half on a 7-2 run, but the defense was the biggest issue for Tigerhawk head coach Michael Hunsberger.

“Lots of poor defense. Lots of imploding and making mistakes that are under our control,” Hunsberger said. “You can’t make those types of mistakes and expect to win, and you can’t be overconfident when you play a team you think you should beat.”

Rhone totaled 16 points in the first. He scored three times on layups directly after making a defensive play at the other end of the floor and buried a pair of 3-pointes and four free throws in the frame. Those were his only four freebies of the night.

Rhone created a 6-0 run on his own toward the end of the quarter. He blocked a shot at one end of the floor and then scored a layup at the other end. He finished the run with a steal at one end and a layup at the other.

“Our energy was way better,” Hunsberger said about the differences with each half. “I think we made a lot of simple mistakes on defense though, and that hurt us.”

After C-M built its lead to 18 following a putback by Shane Hostetter, the Saints (3-16) began to close the gap with an 8-0 run.

Heaberlin, who scored 13 points above his season average, buried a trio of 3s in the frame to help Melcher-Dallas close to within nine, but four different Tigerhawks scored during a 7-0 run that swelled the margin back to 16. The deficit was 14 at halftime.

“It was just unselfish all around. It’s a privilege to play for a team that wants to see me succeed so I want that for everyone else,” Rhone said. “It was really on display in the first half.”

The 60 points C-M scored in the game were a season high, but the Tigerhawks were limited to eight in the third and nine in the fourth.

Isaiah Lewis scored consecutive buckets in the third after the Saints closed to within four and Gage Byal’s 3 with 2:16 left extended the Tigerhawks’ advantage to nine. But the Saints scored the final four of the frame and trailed by five after three.

It didn’t take long for the visitors to seize control in the fourth. The Saints scored the first six points of the frame to take their first lead.

Back-to-back buckets by Wyatt Carpenter and Rhone put C-M back on top and a deep 3 by Rhone later made it 58-57 with just more than 3 minutes to play. That put him past the 1,000 point threshold. But he was limited to five points in the second half.

“I talked to the coaches beforehand, and they were focused on letting the game come to me and letting me get my teammates going,” Rhone said. “They told me the points would come eventually and they did. It’s been a long time coming.”

Lewis’ bucket with 2:03 to go pushed C-M’s advantage to three, but it was the home team’s final points of the game. The Saints ended the district contest on a 10-0 run and six of those came from the foul line in the final 1:02.

“We have to get better. We challenged them,” Hunsberger said. “We have to have guys who not only want to have a better program, but are willing to put in the time it takes to improve. If it doesn’t start tomorrow, it won’t get better. I hope this group wants to put in the time right away. We need to take it seriously and invest into that.”

Colfax-Mingo (2-19) got a career-high 10 points from Lewis, Hostetter scored eight points and Carpenter and Byal both put in five points.

The Tigerhawks were 9-of-12 from the free-throw line, but the Saints sunk 17-of-19 and had a nine-point advantage in 3-point makes.

Melcher-Dallas also got 14 points, four rebounds and four assists from Reece Chiabotta and 10 points and eight boards from Austin Remster. The Saints shot 48 percent from the floor and connected on 8-of-19 from 3.

Notes: The Saints were eliminated by No. 2 Madrid, 119-36, during the next round of the district tournament.