Blessed to again have teammates nearby after spending the fall as the only girl running cross-country for Ignacio High, Alyssa Atencio’s conditioned legs never gave out Tuesday evening. She began the Bobcats’ 2024-25 basketball season racking up 19 points and helping new head coach Travis Nanaeto earn his first varsity-level victory, 43-19 at Mancos.
“I think I was more nervous than the girls,” Nanaeto said, speaking to Ben Bradley of The Journal. “But once we got back in the swing of it … They were competitive, they were smart, looking around and making good passes.”
Those good passes led to lots of scoring chances for IHS. Atencio, fellow junior Juliann Avila and senior DaLaney Wesner each nailed one 3-pointer and Atencio ended up 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. IHS (1-0 overall) finished 10-of-19 from the charity stripe, while MHS (0-4 overall) went 8-of-19.
Avila totaled nine points and Wesner scored five. The Bobcats broke out relatively quickly and went into halftime ahead 27-7.
“The girls got more comfortable, opened them up – got their jitterbugs out of the way … got my jitterbugs out of the way,” Nanaeto said. “The girls started flowing, pressuring the ball – everyone knew where everyone went.”
Junior Destiny Kramer made five of six free throws and totaled five points for Mancos before fouling out. Freshman Tinsley Aspromonte also scored five and senior Randi Lewis netted four points.
“More communication and definitely better conditioning,” said Nanaeto, asked where his team could most improve. “We know that we’re going to need it as we play really good teams, to be ready to go four quarters, all the way to the end.”
The Bluejays will next travel to Cedaredge’s Grand Mesa Classic on Friday and Saturday. Mancos will face CHS (3-0, 1-0 3A Western Slope) on Day 1 of the event at 5 p.m. Ignacio, meanwhile, will head east to 2A Center for the two-day C-Town Showdown and on Friday will square off against 1A Sierra Grande (1-1).
IHS BOYS DOUBLE UP: Junior Ambrose Valdez went off for 25 points and D.J. Hendren logged 15 as Ignacio put up 49 first-half points and cruised to a 72-36 road win over Mancos.
Trace Crane and Cayson Burcham each chipped in six points, while Thunder Windy Boy and Coty Webb scored five apiece for the Bobcats (2-1 overall, 0-0 IML), who upped their scoring average to 63 points per game. That could spell bad news for Friday’s Showdown opponent, Sierra Grande High School, which will go into the teams’ 7:30 p.m. matchup posting 43 PPG during its 1-1 start.
Mancos, meanwhile, fell to 0-4 overall and, like the Bluejays girls team, will next seek victory at the Grand Mesa Classic. MHS will first face the hosting Bruins (0-3) on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Individual statistics for Mancos against Ignacio were unavailable at press time.
