Recipient of multiple razor-sharp entry passes into the paint Thursday evening, with two particularly perfect fourth-quarter gems zinged her way by sophomore Maliyah Martinez, Ignacio’s Victoria Brown made sure the highlight-reel looks didn’t go to waste.
Registering eight points during the final frame, the senior forward totaled a career-high 16 points as the Bobcats won 47-20 at Bayfield.
“I was super excited; my team works really well with helping me get the ball in the post,” Brown said. “I kind of want to think it’s a chemistry thing; we always know where each other is. So it feels really good.”
Brown’s first half-dozen points went toward IHS building a 12-7 lead late in the first quarter – which then ended with Brown scoring off an assist from senior guard Marissa Olguin, then senior forward DaLaney Wesner beating the buzzer with a bucket resulting from a steal of BHS’ inbounds pass.
With sophomore guard Vivien Clance (concussion) and freshman guard Kieley White Thunder (inactive) both out of uniform, the Wolverines would later go into halftime down 26-13, with senior guard/forward Renae Foutz responsible for all seven first-quarter points and 11 of the team’s collective output.
Aided by an Atencio three-pointer and five Brown rebounds, the ’Cats won the third quarter 11-2 to cruise into the fourth up 37-15.
Bayfield went out battling, however. Freshman forward Grace Brown netted one 2-pointer and junior center Sylvia Hesford booked BHS’ last basket by receiving a perfect touch pass from sophomore point guard Kimball Anderson – initially dished the ball by Foutz – and scoring easily, chipping the deficit down to 45-20 with 1:38 to go.
Foutz finished with 14 points and also grabbed an impressive 15 boards.
Atencio ended up with 11 points for Ignacio, while junior Juliann Avila contributed six.
