No one likes a basketball Goliath in March.
Unless, of course, you’re from Ignacio.
That’s exactly what the Ignacio High School boys basketball team has become accustomed to. The Bobcats departed for Pueblo on Wednesday for the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 2A State Championships.
The team is 23-0 this season, one of only two undefeated boys basketball teams left in the state and the last of the unbeatens in Class 2A. And the Bobcats are ranked No. 1 in Class 2A by CHSAANow.com.
While this marks the first time IHS has been to state since 2011, there’s a strong basketball tradition at the school.
“We have a great recreation program where these kids start playing when they’re in kindergarten,” IHS head coach Chris Valdez said.
Players continue developing on junior high teams, and some spend more time on the court playing in Amateur Athletic Union tournaments before and during high school.
“It’s not an easy job (playing basketball for IHS), so some of the kids who are on the edge and don’t want to work that hard don’t come out (for the team),” Valdez said. “You start by creating a tradition of winning; if you can’t win, it’s hard to get people to respect you and what you do.”
The community certainly respects Valdez and all he has achieved.
Valdez has coached the Bobcats to seven consecutive district tournament championships in his 14-year tenure. He’s sustained the team’s success by emphasizing a fast-paced, aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball and building a coaching staff that shares his vision.
“Nobody likes to watch you walk the basketball up the floor. They want to see transition; they want to see full-court pressure. We play fun basketball that’s fun for the fans and fun for the players,” Valdez said. “I put a coaching staff around me that I can trust. They’re all family members. Nobody wants my job. They’re trying to help us become a program.”
IHS last made the state tournament in 2011, when current Fort Lewis College center Alex Herrera led the Bobcats to the championship game.
But this may be the strongest IHS team yet.
The Bobcats already have tied the school record for wins in a season (23-3 in 2009-10) and laid waste to a challenging nonconference schedule.
Only one team IHS has played to date has kept its losing margin to less than 10 points.
Only four teams have cracked the 50-point scoring barrier against the Bobcats.
The Bobcats beat Durango High School, which qualified for the Class 4A state tournament, by 22 in January.
That’s the stuff juggernauts are made of.
But if you haven’t followed IHS all season, it begs the question: Who are these guys?
The Point Guard
5-9 sophomore Wyatt Hayes: He’s just learning how to drive a car, but Hayes has a firm grip on the keys to the Bobcats’ offense.
Hayes usually brings the ball up the court and initiates Ignacio’s offense, which lets him dish out a team-leading 4.8 assists per game.
Don’t sleep on Hayes’ defense, either.
He’ll come up with a steal and sprint down the court for a layup.
Valdez’s take: “Wyatt is so fast and understands the game so well. When we get into running, he can make such good decisions.”
The Shooter
5-9 senior Clayton Jefferson: It’s more surprising when Jefferson misses a 3-pointer than when he drains three or four in a row.
Jefferson leads the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game and has made 38 3-pointers this season. He’s never afraid to shoot, but he might be even better when he’s attacking the defense off the dribble and finding his teammates for easy shots.
That skill has awarded him 3.6 assists per game.
Valdez sometimes wants Jefferson to pass the ball more, but it’s hard to argue with the results.
Valdez’s take: “He’s the guy we usually go to to calm everybody’s nerves.”
The Rebounder
6-3 junior Adison Jones: Every school has one: the baseball/basketball/All-State quarterback triple threat.
Jones is Ignacio’s.
He threw for 25 touchdowns as a quarterback and nearly averages a double-double on the hardwood.
Jones leads the team in rebounding with 8.3 boards per game and feels just as comfortable shooting from the outside as he does working in the post.
And woe be the opposing guard who thinks he can sneak an easy layup over Jones.
He has 24 blocks this season, mostly emphatic spikes into the second row of the bleachers.
Valdez’s take: “He’s the best rebounder on our team, in our league and maybe in half the state.”
The Big Men
6-5 senior Justin Carver, 6-3 senior Kelton Richmond: The beef. The muscle. The skyscrapers.
Call them what you will, but Carver and Richmond are two big dudes. They do a lot of dirty work setting screens and posting up on the block. Both can catch an entry pass and make a post move to get open or cut, catch and finish.
Get out of their way on the fast break, too, or else you might end up on a poster; both can dunk.
Valdez’s take: “We are a big team for our division, but we don’t notice that because we always want to play up and play bigger teams.”
The Bench
5-8 senior Sam Corrado, 6-5 sophomore Nicholas Herrera, 6-1 senior John House, 5-7 sophomore Anthony Manzanares, 5-8 senior Bo Ward and 5-10 sophomore Tucker Ward: This is a deep team.
The bench and starters are flexible depending on matchups, but Valdez always has six players on the bench whom he can rotate through to keep the starting five fresh.
It helps to have that much backup when you’re beating teams by 20 and 30 most nights; there’s not much of a drop-off when Valdez goes to his bench units.
That’s how you beat teams 95-7, the Bobcats’ largest margin of victory this season.
Valdez’s take: “This is one of the best teams I’ve ever coached. We’re deep, we’re quick, and we have size enough to rebound against big teams.”
Ignacio starts its quest for the state championship against Sedgwick County High School at 10:15 a.m. today at Massari Arena on the CSU-Pueblo campus.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
