In the alphabetical listing, it appears Johnny Valdez was a skin-of-his-teeth choice for the recently-announced 2018 CHSAANow.com/ColoradoPreps.com/MaxPreps All-Class 2A Boys' Basketball Team.
In actuality, he fell just a few votes short of first team status.
Either way, Ignacio's senior shooting guard - named to Class 2A's second team as the seventh-highest vote-getter - couldn't have been happier to close out his prep career than to help the Bobcats into the state tournament one last time and maybe impress more than a few coaches along the way.
"When I was a sophomore, we played at regionals, played Center, and I came in at the end of the game and was able to help the guys out," he said. "We made it to state that year, and that was when I really knew I wanted to be an all-state player, work harder than my matchup, and this year I think I really did well playing defense as well as offense."
Playing in all 26 of IHS' games this winter, Valdez averaged 14.5 points per game while shooting a reported 47 percent from the floor. From 3-point land, where he was most feared, he was a potent 64-of-151, making 42 percent. He also averaged 5.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 5.1 steals per game.
"I really owe it to my teammates," Valdez said. "Everything we went through this year...they helped me get through it, pushed me to be the best player I really could be, and it ended up working out. It's a real honor. I mean, I played against some of the guys that are on the team, and they're all really deserving, great guys."
One player Valdez felt quite deserving to, at the least, join him as a second-team selection pick was fellow senior Kai Roubideaux, who averaged 13.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game while shooting 51 percent from the field.
Able to shine during Ignacio's three-game state run but lost for a handful of games because of injury, Roubideaux was named to the all-state honorable mention list. He had a team-best 79 percent showing from the free-throw line and also 42 percent accuracy from downtown.
"That injury, he had to come back from it, and he came back really strong," Valdez said. "He was really a big part of our team this year, just all-around.
"As a leader - we were pretty much captains for the year - it was great working with Kai, an important experience for me, He led a lot differently than I did, and it worked really well; we had a good dynamic and it was great to just play with a player that's at that level. Honestly, I feel like he... in the all-state voting, probably should have been top 10. I'm just really proud of him."
Ignacio finished 20-6 overall this season and finished in sixth place at the state tournament held in Loveland. Led by coach of the year Dave Sheffield, Yuma (25-2) hoisted the first-place trophy after a 59-41 win over Crowley County (25-1) and player of the year Bradley Carnes-Clabey.
Information on the 2018 All-SJBL Boys' Basketball team had not been reported as of press time.
