The Ignacio High school girls basketball team was gunning for a 2A/1A San Juan Basin League regular season title, but the Norwood Mavericks stood in their way.
The Bobcats ran into foul trouble, as the Mavericks proved to be too tough down the stretch to beat Ignacio 41-33.
Norwood’s Maci Magallon finished with 21 points, and Ignacio’s Hilda Garcia fouled out in the fourth quarter with 11.
Ignacio was down 27-15 at halftime but battled back to pull within one in the fourth quarter before Garcia left the game on a controversial charging foul with two minutes left in the game. As Garcia left the game, the momentum shifted and the Bobcats couldn’t keep up.
“The referees were calling a tight game all night,” Ignacio head coach Shane Seibel said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “We got into early foul trouble, and they made shots and we missed ours.”
Ignacio (14-4, 10-1 SJBL) had a chance to win the league championship Friday night, as the Bobcats and Norwood were both at 10-0 entering the game. Norwood (18-1, 11-0 SJBL) now sits on top of the standings.
Ellie Seibel finished with 10 points, and Avionne Gomez added five for Ignacio.
“I thought we missed some easy buckets under the net, but overall I was proud of the effort,” Seibel said. “This is how we get better in ball games. We have to take a loss and move forward as a team and look at ourselves and see how we can get better and get ready to take on Telluride and go into district tournament.”
Ignacio will finish out its regular season at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Ignacio High School against Telluride. The Bobcats will honor their seniors before the game.
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