Monticello teams find success at Colorado basketball tournament

by David Boyle
News Director
The Monticello basketball teams played six games over the weekend in Colorado with early season efforts in full swing.
The Monticello boys basketball team opened their season last week with a 2-2 record including a 2nd place finish at the San Juan Mountain Madness Tournament in Ouray Colorado.
Monticello opened the season with a 63-31 loss to Grand County on December 3, Monticello was led in scoring by Kaden Pehrson who finished with 13 points.
Monticello then traveled to Colorado for a three day tournament starting on December 5. The boys earned a 46-25 win over West Grand to open the tournament.
Leading scoring for Monticello was Jackson Keyes who finished with 12 points, while Pehrson scored 10 and Cache Young had nine. Also scoring for Monticello was Traken Lee with eight, Tristan Felix three, and Kooper Nielson and Tommy Morrison with two. 
Speaking after the game senior Traken Lee said it was the defense that got them the win.
“I loved our hustle, our whole team seemed to hustle, our defense was good, we need to work on our offense a bit but that’ll come we just need more discipline.”
Lee noted he was impressed with Nielson’s hustle and effort in the game.
The next day Monticello beat tournament host Ouray on December 6 by a score of 46-34.
Monticello was led in scoring by Young who put in 17 points in the game. Pehrson and Lee both added eight while Nielson had six, Keyes with five and Morrison with two.
Speaking after the game Coach Keyes had praise for Young who scored 16 first half points noting Young is difficult to stop when shooting in rhythm. After the game Cache said he couldn’t have done it without assists from his teammates.
“I needed my teammates there, they’re like my brothers.”
Coach Keyes also gave kudos to Pehrson for his effort shutting down the Trojans top scorer to earn the win.
“Kaden knew his job, we talked about his job on the bus, in the locker room, he knew what his job was and he did fantastic, he hasn’t been known as a defensive stopper by any means but tonight he got that merit badge.”
The final game of the tournament was a loss for the Buckaroos to DeBeque by a score of 54-43. Young led scoring with 18 points while Lee had 13.
The boys teams are next in action December 13 and 14 playing at the 1A Preview in Richfield. Monticello plays Telos at 2:30 Friday and Milford at 1:30 on Saturday. You can get both games on StreamUtah.Live and 92.7 FM.
The Monticello girls basketball team competed at the girls San Juan Mountain Madness Tournament in Ridgway Colorado going 1-2 at the tournament.
The lady Bucks opened the tournament with a 70-35 loss to West Grand but bounced back the next day for their first win of the season over Ouray by a score of 51-8. Monticello was led by Maron Freestone who finished with 22 points. Makenna Peterson, Braylee Freestone and Nicole Francom all scored six points in the game while Shaydin Freestone scored four, Mechaiyah Lansing had three and Rolena Lansing scored two.
Speaking after the game Maron Freestone and Coach Stenson Freestone shared the performance was in part due to efforts over the summer. 
“Me and my dad would go every morning and we’d shoot on our machine as many threes as we can. Get my shooting down and my shot down. We shot as many as we could so I wouldn’t miss That time in the offseason really helped me to get where I needed to be.”
Coach Freestone shared post-game his immense pride in his daughter’s efforts also highlighting the work ethic of several girls including Nicole Francom “I love every second she gives me on the court, she’s something special.” Coach Francom also shouted out Shaydiin Freestone, the sophomore is a very undersized center but did an excellent job controlling the glass and making shots difficult for opponents all weekend.
The Monticello girls closed out the tournament with a 51-17 loss to Grand County. Maron Freestone led scoring with 10 points. Monticello played Grand on December 10 after the print deadline and will play Whitehorse on December 17 broadcast on StreamUtah.live and 92.7 FM.