Huge fourth quarter lifts Centauri over Monte Vista

Centauri's Noah Sowards defends David Mascareñas during Tuesday's league game. Both boys led their respective teams in scoring. (Stephen Jiron/Valley Courier)

MONTE VISTA — Centauri closed their regular season Tuesday night with their second series sweep over the course of the last week.  The Falcons came back to defeat Monte Vista 62-52.

Centauri (16-3) has built an impressive seven game run going all the way back to mid January. Monte Vista (7-11) got off to a rough start but have been on the warpath in February. The Pirates have picked up three straight with two meaningful wins over Bayfield and Montezuma Cortez. Sitting in the number 34 spot prior to the contest a win against Centauri could have gone a long way towards getting Monte Vista within the top 32 for the post season.

The Pirates went for broke Tuesday night.

David Mascareñas and Kaiden Wenta would get Monte Vista on the board first. Mascareñas would lead a big quarter for the Pirates in which both he and teammate Cobi Garcia cash in on three pointers.  Monte Vista would take a 16-10 after one quarter.

From there Centauri would begin creeping back. Centauri would take the better of a low scoring exchange in the second quarter with junior Noah Sowards posting 7 of the Falcon’s 9 points before the half to cut the Pirates advantage to just three points.

Trailing 31-29 late in the third, Centauri’s Sowards would sink the basket to tie the game. Despite struggling from the free throw line Sowards would lead the Falcons in scoring with 15 points.

Baron Holman would put Centauri ahead with his second basket of the game, a bucket from Mason Claunch and it was 8 unanswered points from the Falcons.  Mascareñas would end the drought for the Pirates but Centauri was moving at a pace Monte Vista could not match.

To start the fourth quarter junior Alec Holman drained a three-pointer to put the Falcons ahead by seven points. What would follow was a 25-point quarter from the Falcons in which senior Martin Garcia accounted for seven points.  Garcia would leave the game with a minute and a half remaining with what appeared to be a rib injury. Mascareñas had a career night for the Pirates shooting 42 percent from the three-point line and collecting 27 points.

According to MaxPreps Monte Vista will take on Custer County Friday night to close their regular season. The loss keeps Monte Vista as the number six seed with regard to the Intermountain League district tournament. Meaning Monte Vista will feasibly be in Alamosa early next week while Centauri should take a bye with the number one seed and will await the lowest remaining seed in Cortez late next week.