Hidden beneath a hood offering only about as much anonymity as it could in disguising a player who’d just wowed an entire crowd and an entire tournament, an exhausted Gabe Tucson’s head hung somewhat dejectedly last Saturday evening as he exited a locker room for the last time at Centauri’s Mountain Top Classic.
Truth be told, however, nobody – other than Ignacio’s senior guard/forward/ – inside Centauri Middle School Gymnasium was really talking about a missed 1-and-1 with 1.8 seconds left. Fans were mostly amazed by the fact that what they’d just witnessed merely decided third place, not first.
And truth be shouted, the MTC’s championship, which saw the hosting 3A Falcons rip 2A Rye 57-30, couldn’t have held a candle to a 53-52 thriller in which any Bobcat, let alone all-tournament selection Tucson, really shouldn’t have been in such a situation just three games into the 2021-22 season.
“That didn’t cost us the game,” said Ignacio head coach Chris Valdez. “The 15 turnovers cost us the game, the missed layups, the not catching the ball. One thing never costs you the game, especially at the end.”
“He missed one … but so what?” Valdez said. “I thought he was the best player in the whole tournament. And I think the crowd changed. We almost had everyone in the whole place cheering for us, because of the biggest heart I’ve ever seen.”
“We made some mistakes too as coaches, like we do, and so did the players, but we’ll shake them off and move forward.”
“I’d say the same thing,” said Tucson, who scored 28 points against Cedaredge. “I’m pretty confident. And this is a young team, but this is only the beginning.”
Even with both sides now 1-2 overall, that doesn’t bode well for 2A Crested Butte, Ignacio’s nonleague, neutral-site opponent Saturday. Weather-permitting, tip-off inside Telluride’s MinerDome is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
It hadn’t been a surprise that Tucson and Rye’s Camden Steele had taken center stage in one of the previous day’s semifinals; the senior standouts were even sporting the same style and color Nike shoes. And even though Steele and the Thunderbolts squeaked out a 45-40 win, it was Steele – also named All-Tournament – struggling from the free-throw line (going 1-of-6), not Tucson (6-of-8).
And going in against 2A Cedaredge fresh off a 23-point effort against the ’Bolts, plus 15 points in a 55-14 blowout of 2A Sargent on Day one of the tournament, Tucson remained hot with five first-quarter points.
But CHS countered on the inside, getting eight points from post Gideon Gilmore in holding an 11-7 lead after eight minutes. Tucson and Bruin guard Luke Maxey then put on a shooting show, each draining four 3-pointers during the second quarter. Still, Cedaredge – which had shocked 4A Durango 56-53 on Day 1 – had managed to increase their lead to nine points, 33-24, entering intermission.
“They competed hard, I coached my hardest for ’em, and you know what? I’m just truly proud of the way the boys played,” said CHS head coach Lane Varner. “Maxey did go tit-for-tat with Tucson, and we needed that tonight – especially (against) a great, well-coached team.”
“It was fun, seeing who could top each other,” Tucson said. “(Maxey) gave me props, I gave him props, we hit impossible threes.”
An improbable triple, coming fewer than 30 seconds into the third quarter, showed the second half would be something special.
Catching the Bruins off guard, Ignacio began the third quarter with a straight-on trey from Charley Pargin.
“Coach almost made me (expletive) myself, I’m not going to lie,” the freshman forward said afterward. “He said, ‘We’re going to put you in the high post, and you’re going to pop out and hit a three.’ I couldn’t believe it.”
“He’s a great shooter,” Valdez said, “and I told him, ‘You’ve got to hit one to bring (Cedaredge) out,’ so we could try to get inside.”
And though IHS’ rally revolved around Tucson’s whereabouts, two hard-earned inside baskets by junior forward/center Dylan McCaw finally got the Bobcats their first lead, 36-35, with 3:21 left until the final frame blasted off with IHS up 40-39. The third ended with point guard Devante Montoya alertly converting an over-shot Phillip Quintana corner three into a backside alley-oop layup.
Sensing the Bobcats’ confidence, Varner went back to a simpler strategy and rode Gilmore, who finished with 24 points, for four of the Bruins’ first five buckets as CHS sprinted ahead 49-40 with 5:28 remaining.
“The whole third quarter, they took us out of our rhythm, so again, hats off to them,” Varner said. “We just couldn’t get going, so I just went double-high; I wanted pick-and-roll, and wanted to work our big guy … wanted him to have the ball. And we answered, got a little nine-point run. … But their guys came back and made it a ball game.”
Behind by nine again, the ’Cats clawed back into contention with Phillip Quintana (6 points) sinking a three, then Eppie Quintana (9 points) cashing a trey from the opposite corner after a CHS turnover in the back court. He would soon add two free throws, bringing IHS back to 53-52 with 0:59 left.
“You know, (Cedaredge) was a team I thought might be 15, 20 points better than us,” said Valdez, “and the kids closed that gap with their heart and their desire to win.”
Attempting to stop the clock and prevent CHS from wasting more time, Pargin was hit with a disputed intentional foul when he latched onto Bruin Kyler Parker with 10.7 seconds left. With the chance to all but clinch victory, Parker inexplicably clanked both free throws, but the ball soon ended up in Maxey’s hands.
Ready to be fouled by even the slightest poke, Maxey (18 points) reacted to the expected whistle by stepping toward the charity stripe, only to stop short, stunned by hearing he’d been called for a travel – giving Ignacio, particularly Tucson (who’d ultimately be fouled by, as fate would have it, Maxey), one last possession with 7.6 ticks remaining.
Varner said he thought Maxey had been fouled. “But I said to them, ‘Hey, I wouldn’t want it any other way; let’s win on defense.’ That’s just part of basketball.”
“Nobody had their eyes on the Cedaredge Bruins, but I think they should now,” Varner said.
“I thought it was a great tournament for us, you know … down to the last shot,” Valdez said. “It is what it is; the kids played hard.”
