Beating Class 4A Durango in its last game isn’t going to the Ignacio High School boys basketball team’s heads.
IHS (8-0) head coach Chris Valdez won’t have it.
“They haven’t stopped working hard. We’re still going two or three days a week in the morning in addition to afternoon practices, doing weightlifting and yoga, too,” Valdez said. “They know that making 20 turnovers (against DHS) isn’t acceptable.”
IHS will open San Juan Basin League play at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at home against Dove Creek.
The Bulldogs are 1-9 this season and currently on an eight-game losing streak. They only shoot 33 percent from the field as a team.
Spencer Gatlin leads Dove Creek with 13.3 points per game, while Jordan Ernst scores 10.8 points per game.
“They’re a young team. They have a couple good players who are sophomores,” Valdez said. “But they don’t really have depth or the talent to challenge a team like us.”
The Bobcats can’t get complacent, though.
They moved into the top spot in the latest CHSAAnow.com Class 2A boys basketball poll with nine of the 15 first-place votes.
IHS is one of just five undefeated teams left across the state of Colorado.
Class 5A Fossil Ridge, Class 3A Holy Family and Jefferson Academy and Class 1A Caliche also haven’t lost.
Sanford High School, the previous No. 1 in 2A, lost at Class 3A Alamosa and currently is No. 2 with four first-place votes.
“We don’t let the kids have a letdown. If we can’t build on what we did the last week we can’t get any better,” Valdez said. “These are athletes that have come up short in the regional championship game the last two years and lost leads in both games. They’re determined to step forwards and think about what’s ahead of us. We’ve got to work through (Dove Creek) so we can get to the trophy at the end.”
IHS girls basketball
League play can provide a fresh start for the IHS girls basketball team.
The Bobcats struggled through a difficult nonconference schedule under first-year head coach Shane Seibel after advancing to the final eight of last season’s state tournament.
IHS (2-7) will open SJBL play at 4 p.m. Saturday against Dove Creek in Ignacio.
The Bulldogs enter the game 8-1 with their only loss coming against Monticello High School (Utah) on Jan. 9.
Three Dove Creek players average double-digit points per game.
Madison Young leads the team with 12.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per contest, while Jessica Guynes and Corissa Guynes score 11.8 and 10.1 points per game, respectively.
Garbiela Garcia leads the Bobcats with 7.5 points per game. Cloe Seibel ranks second on the team at 6.1 points per game, while her sister Ellie scores 6 per contest.
Bayfield Wolverines
Four wins and a .500 record won’t get a casual fan’s motor running, but it’s a major improvement for the Bayfield High School boys basketball team.
The Wolverines already have surpassed last season’s win total (3) under first-year head coach Randy Stephens entering league play.
BHS (4-4) will open its Intermountain League schedule at 7 p.m. Friday at home against Monte Vista.
The Pirates are 7-2 this season, only losing to Colorado Class 2A No. 2 Sanford High School and New Mexico Class 3A No. 3 Taos High School (Taos, N.M.).
Keith Romero leads the Pirates in scoring at 15 points per game, while Donald Poole II averages 8.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
Preston Hardy paces BHS with 14.6 points per game, while five other Wolverines score more than 5 points per game.
BHS girls basketball
The Bayfield High School girls basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak in its last game to get back on track entering league play.
The Wolverines will host Monte Vista at 5:30 p.m. Friday in their IML opener under first-year head coach and BHS alumna Bri Simbeck.
Bayfield’s (2-3) senior duo of Jaida Ross and Haley Clarke leads the team by scoring 11.8 and 8 points per game, respectively.
Ross, in particular, has been on a tear lately. She scored 20 points in the Wolverines’ last game and has been in double figures for their last three.
They’ll have to deal with the Pirates’ Terrise Sanchez, who leads the team averaging 12 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
The Pirates have won three out of their last four games after starting 1-3.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
