Bucks close ‘24 with three wins, tourney title

by David Boyle
News Director
Monticello boys basketball went 3-0 in their last week of action in 2024 to improve to 6-3 on the year and an early RPI rank of 7 in the 1A. The Bucks to defeat the Whitehorse Raiders and won the Dove Creek Bulldog Classic.
Monticello earned a region victory over Whitehorse on December 17. The Bucks and Raiders were tied 17-17 after one quarter, with Whitehorse taking a 26-24 lead at halftime.
The Raiders extended their lead in the third quarter, leading 40-31 after three. In the final frame Whitehorse led 47-33 with under six minutes remaining.
Monticello crawled back into the game. Traken Lee hit a three-point shot to cut the lead to three. Adam Joe responded with a layup to push the lead to five.
On the next offensive play Lee got a bucket plus the foul, a technical for a ball slam also sent Lee to the line forfree throws that tied the game at 50. The teams were deadlocked for over a minute with several empty possessions before Lee once again hit a three to give Monticello a 53-50 lead.
After a jump ball, Monticello’s next offensive possession saw Lee find Kaden Pehrson cutting to the basket for a bucket to give Monticello a 55-50 lead.
After a defensive stop Monticello ran the clock under 30 seconds before Jackson Keyes hit a free throw to give Monticello the 56-50 lead.
Whitehorse would not give up and Kalin Tohonnie hit a deep three to cut the lead to 56-53.
The Whitehorse defense got the ball back with three seconds left but the active hands of Kooper Nielson poked the ball out of bounds off a Raiders player and gave Monticello the ball back to run out the final few seconds.
The close region win for Monticello sets up a highly anticipated rematch on January 24.
Monticello was led in the game by Lee who finished with 21 points, making five of nine shots with nine of 11 free throws made.
Cache Young finished with 11 points while Pehrson scored 10 and Keyes had seven.
Lee also led the way on the boards securing eight rebounds, while Nielson grabbed five.
Team leaders in other key stats include Pehrson with five assists while Nielson had four, Pehrson and Lee each recorded three steals while Pehrson had two blocks.
The Raiders saw balanced scoring with Adam Joe leading the team with 13 points. Hyatt Thomas and Tristan Black each scored seven, while Tohonnie scored six and Aiden Hamm had five. Dominic Dance and Kaleb Joe each had three points with Elam Etsitty scoring two.
Adam Joe and Dance had exceptional games on the boards each recording seven rebounds, Black led the team recording three assists, Tohonnie, Hamm, Etsitty, Brayden John, and Kaleb Joe each had one steal. Adam Joe and Black each had a block as well.
As a team, Monticello shot 33 percent from the field while Whitehorse shot 41 percent. Whitehorse had 30 rebounds, 10 assists and 20 turnovers, Monticello recorded 24 rebounds, 14 assists and 13 turnovers.
Speaking after the game, Coach Josh Keyes, Pehrson and Lee all heaped praises on the defensive efforts of Nielson to frustrate the Raider offense and to force the game sealing deflection. Praises were also given to Lee who shared it right back when asked about his game high 21 points.
“I owe it all to my team, they kept us in the game and in the end we pulled out the win.”
While Lee was calm and collected on the surface, he added after the game some nerves and shin splints were under the surface.
“I looked like I was under control but my word I was shaken out there. I’m sure everyone could see my legs shaking on those free throws.”
Speaking after the game, Coach Keyes shared they’ve always known Lee has had the skills and athleticism to be a leader for the team.
“Its just about keep believing in him and telling him you can do this and eventually it pays off like it did tonight. It was just fun to watch.” 
On December 20, Monticello faced off against the Dove Creek Bulldogs earning a 57-33 victory over the tournament host in a game the Bucks led throughout. 
Monticello built a 11-4 lead after one quarter extending the lead 27-11 at halftime. Monticello again increased their lead to 45-15 after three quarters with both teams having their highest offensive output in the fourth.
The Bucks were led by a monster game for Pehrson, who finished with 29 points in the victory. Lee scored 10 while Nielson and Young each had seven. Tommy Morrison scored two while Triston Felix and Seth Taylor each had one point.
Pehrson finished with a double-double recording 13 rebounds. Pehrson and Young each had three assists, while Lee had four steals.
Speaking after his big offensive output, Pehrson said his scoring was a focus over the past week.
“For me its been a long time coming, I’m told all the time by coach that if I just shoot in rythem and shoot smooth it’ll go. All of us came out today. All of us at certain times we got it going.”
Pehrson was impressed by his teams defensive efforts.
“We all had to come out and play, stay in front of the ball get good box outs. Jackson did really good at anchoring the defense in the middle. Kooper always you can count on him to take care of the ball handler and keep him in front. It was a good team effort on the defensive effort for sure.”
After the game, Nielson shared the teams camaraderie has been building throughout December.
“We’re comfortable with each other, gaining that chemistry we had in jr. high. We’re starting to get more comfortable that we can rely on each other as its needed. “
The December 21 championship game against Telluride followed a similar script to the win over the Bulldogs with suffocating defense and a wire-to-wire lead as the Bucks defeated the Miners 46-24. Monticello built a 10-2 lead after one quarter, extending the lead 23-11 at halftime.
The Bucks once again gave up just two points in a quarter extending their lead 32-13 after three quarters, with the Bucks winning the fourth quarter for a final score of 46-24.
The Bucks were led by Young who finished with 18 points in the game, while Pehrson scored 11. Keyes scored seven while Nielson and Lee each had four points. While Taylor and Charlie Welch each had one point.
The Bucks were led on the boards by Young who grabbed eight rebounds while Keyes and Pehrson had six. Pehrson led the team with four assists, and two steals while Lee had one block.
Monticello is off for the break until January 7 when they host Dolores.