Craig Daily Press

Craig — Summer is a time when many high school athletes take a break from class, enjoy the outdoors or go on vacation.

For the Moffat County High School boys basketball team, the summer is proving to be anything but leisurely.

The Bulldogs haven’t taken any time away from the court since its season ended at the hands of Greeley West in the playoffs.

A strict morning workout schedule instituted by head coach Steve Maneotis precedes a couple of hours each night of practice.

Maneotis is installing a new up-tempo offense that has seen Kelton Willbanks join fellow seniors Mike Peters, Chayton Owens, Blake Najera and Thomas Noble on the floor as starters.

All the work was put on display this past weekend as the Bulldogs took home second place in the “Niwot Summer Shootout” in Niwot.

“I’ll bet all the guys slept well,” Maneotis said Sunday. “We played three games in four hours to close it out. By the time we reached the championship, we just ran out of gas.”

The Bulldogs fell in the championship game, 57-37, to Longmont High School, but the team advancing that far is what Maneotis said the summer regimen is all about.

“We are just going out there, not running anything specific and playing our game,” Maneotis said. “I just want to see them all come together on the floor, really importantly as a team. I think they did this weekend. Everybody had a good weekend.”

Sophomores Dylon Camilletti, Dustin Carlson and Zach Raftopoulos, as well as junior Brian Ivy, made the trip with what Maneotis called his “Fab-Five” seniors.

“We had a really good mix of guys out there,” he said. “The ‘young guns’ played really well, too.”

Maneotis said he has been working on the team’s offense, instituting an up-tempo style similar to that of Gonzaga University.

“We are trying to get a shot off in three to four seconds,” he said. “I mean down the floor getting a layup, quick.”

The tactic worked in MCHS’s first game Friday.

Matched up with Ranum High School, the Bulldogs ran out to an early 25-point advantage, on its way to a 55-45 win.

“We kind of just coasted in that game,” Maneotis said. “Owens had three layups before anyone even blinked. That’s what I wanted to see.”

Friday’s evening matchup pitted the Bulldogs against tournament host Niwot.

MCHS fell 54-53 but not without some late-game drama.

Trailing by 12 with less than four minutes to play, the Bulldogs pulled within a point with 23 seconds remaining.

The team had three shots to win, but two missed layups and an off-the-mark three-pointer sealed the Cougars’ win.

Niwot “had really good defensive pressure that game,” Maneotis said. “We played an outstanding game. We just didn’t win.”

On Saturday, the Bulldogs had to work their way up through the losers bracket.

Moffat County dispatched Fred­erick High School, 65-42, and followed with a 57-56 victory against Denver North High School to reach the title game against Longmont.

“Our minds really wanted it, but our bodies just couldn’t do it,” Maneotis said of the team’s performance in the championship game after its third game in four hours. “We were only down two at the half, but we got kind of worn out at the end.”

Maneotis said he was proud of how the team gelled and meshed together. And, he said he could see a big difference in last season’s team and the team now in Bulldogs blue and white.

“They are definitely more experienced,” he said. “We came out of that Greeley loss hungry, and you can see it in their eyes. It’s good to get back. We’ve got something to prove, and I’m tickled to death that they’ve taken it to the next level.”

John Vandelinder can be reached at 875-1793, or jvandelinder@craigdailypress.com