Using her enemy's own strength against her, it was as though Morgan Herrera had received advice from a kung fu master. And the result was about the loudest applause heard inside Whalen Gymnasium before Tuesday night's dramatic conclusion.
Entangled with Durango senior Hilda Garcia for possession late in the fourth quarter, Ignacio's sophomore drew cheers from her side's supporters for using her own power to body-slam Garcia to the court. Garcia, however, received just as many for not only surviving the takedown, but not relinquishing the ball until the referees' whistles sounded, and then springing back to her feet.
The former Bobcat, however, and her current crew weren't about to submit like that, even after Herrera canned a 16-foot jumper shortly after the tie-up.
Having started the final quarter at Fort Lewis College trailing 34-19, the Demons were now down 38-31 with 72 seconds to go, and still with momentum from a 12-2 run featuring two Garcia three-pointers in response to IHS senior Avionne Gomez's four third-quarter treys.
"'We're in this game,' is what our mindset was," Garcia recalled afterwards. "We were just coming out like, 'We ain't losing this game! We need to show our grit, we need to call in the hard defense-no matter if that means we're fouling and sending them to the free-throw line.'"
Closely watched after torching DHS for 14 total points during the third quarter, Gomez inexplicably missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 0:27 remaining, and 10 ticks later Durango junior Emma Hackett buried a three to cut Ignacio's lead to 38-34. Cranking up their own full-court press, DHS not only the ball back, but Garcia went up to the charity stripe for three tries after being fouled by Gomez with 3.8 seconds left.
And having got the game's scoring underway with two first-quarter freebies, Garcia was up to the task.
"The most important shots of the game," she said of the freethrows. "I practice, shoot 50, 100 every day, so I was like, 'I've got to make these.'"
She did, even with head coach Tim Fitzpatrick taking a timeout prior to her third shot in order to outline a defensive plan for IHS' expected inbounds pass, which went straight to sophomore Larissa Gallegos in the heart of the paint. Smothered immediately, the ball wound up in the prying hands of Durango freshman Madelyn McManus, who was then fouled by Herrera, asserting her own grip.
McManus swished the first try, but nearly generated too much adrenaline in her system by jumping up and down in celebration of equalizing at 38-38. However, though her second shot bounced up off the rim's right side, it fell down and through-setting off a celebration for DHS fans.
"For her being a freshman, stepping up and taking that role to be clutch-I mean, those last two free throws?-I'm just proud of.Maddy," said Garcia, who totaled a game-high 23 points, hit five threes and totaled six of the Demons' 11 field goals. "Ignacio's a good team; I give 'em props. And I'm just so happy we had the opportunity to play against an undefeated 2A team; it really helps build up our defense. So it was good."
"I didn't feel pressure at all; I wasn't even nervous," Gomez said, her 14 points equaled by Herrera. "As soon as I walked in, I was like, 'Let's play!' I just wanted to play the game, play my hardest; it's awesome playing here."
The 'Cats had led 9-6 after one quarter and 18-15 after two, helped by three consecutive Gallegos free throws stemming from a foul, two from Herrera and a late Kiana Valdez jumper, before Gomez nailed back-to-back treys early in the third. Her fourth long-range bomb had IHS on a 14-1 spree, and only a Garcia three with 1:07 left hinted DHS (9-10, 4-1 4A/5A Southwestern) might still have some life left.
"She's a really good player, and it was really cool playing with her one more time," said Gomez. "We needed this loss to show us what we need to work on. And coming this Friday we'll show teams who we are again, and play our hardest."
Hackett finished with 10 points, while Gallegos recorded five for IHS and freshman Charlize Valdez three.
Now 13-1 overall, but 9-0 in the 2A/1A San Juan Basin after devouring Norwood 70-29 three days before, Ignacio will resume league play Friday, Feb. 9, at Telluride (4-11, 4-5), then at Ridgway (0-16, 0-10) the next day.
