Coming off their first loss of the season, the Ignacio Bobcats exploded for a huge first quarter against league opponent Dove Creek.
The Ignacio High School boys basketball team (9-1, 4-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin League) jumped out to a 27-3 after the first eight minutes of play and cruised to a 79-47 home victory.
“We stepped up and came out focused and hit some shots early,” IHS head coach Chris Valdez said. “We were playing a team that didn’t have a lot of talent, but the kids did well.”
Coming off a loss to Class 4A Durango, the Class 2A Bobcats were led by Wyatt Hayes’ 12 assists. He helped get the rest of the team going and found the hot hand instead of driving to the basket at will. He finished with six points, four steals and eight rebounds.
“If he wanted to, he could’ve gone to the basket, but he tried to get everyone involved,” Valdez said of his senior guard.
Anthony Manzanares and Tucker Ward each scored 14 points to lead the Bobcats.
IHS came in focused on Dove Creek’s Jordan Ernst, who had averaged 27 points per game the previous three contests. Ignacio held him to two points in the first half and eight for the game.
“We came out in a full-court press man jump. Our gameplan was to take (Ernst) out of it, because he makes everything happen out there,” Valdez said.
IHS will turn its attention to another non-league rivalry game at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bayfield.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
