Down 35-24 at halftime, the Ignacio boys pulled themselves back to as close as 49-45 midway through the fourth quarter of last Saturday's championship game at the Montezuma-Cortez "Rumble in 'The Jungle,'" but were unable to take one last lead against Basalt and lost 58-47.
Led by unofficial tournament Most Valuable Player Michael Glen - whose first two baskets gave him an even 1,000 points during his prep career - the 3A Longhorns never let the 2A Bobcats get closer than 13-12 on a Cole McCaw free throw with 6:56 left before halftime.
Basalt never let IHS senior Joaquin King, who'd drained five three-pointers in the previous evening's 60-53 defeat of 2A Grand County from Moab, Utah, out of their collective sight during the final quarter.
Named All-Rumble, King still managed to can four treys in defeat and equal junior Marcus Chapman's 12 points for the team high on Day 2.
"I think we've improved; I see the guys improving every day," Head Coach Chris Valdez said after the 2016 half of his team's schedule was completed. "But now, playing three games a week almost until the end of the season is going to help us - we're not in the gym so much; we're on the floor! We can make adjustments on the fly, and I think that's what it's going to take for us to try to make the state tournament again."
Junior Johnny Valdez, who put 17 on the Red Devils to complement King's 16, was held to two points Saturday as Ignacio (3-1), ranked No. 10 in the CHSAANow.com Class 2A poll at the time, took its first loss of the season. Having dispatched the hosting 3A Panthers on Day 1, Basalt climbed to 6-1 as the 6'7" Glen totaled 20 points.
Held scoreless, Basalt senior guard Kyle Roberts was chosen All-Rumble, joining King, Glen, GCHS senior G/F Kenyon Birdwell and Montezuma-Cortez junior G Jasen Engel.
Grand County (4-2) handled M-CHS (2-4) in the third-place game, 71-57, as Birdwell nailed a King-like five treys and totaled a game-high 22 points. With no long-distance makes, Engel still managed a Panther-high 13.
