Burying two of Ignacio's three three-pointers in three trips down the court beginning the fourth quarter, Jayden Brunson couldn't have done better imitating sidelined senior Avionne Gomez in the 2A-District 3 Tournament's finale even if opposing Dolores had expected her to do so.
And sophomore Makayla Howell was back in action for the Feb. 23-24 event (held at Montezuma-Cortez H.S.) after missing much of the season due to surgery on her left wrist. With Howell able to use her own inside/outside skills to replace freshman Ebonee Gomez, neither the Bears nor semifinal foe Telluride could deny IHS the title, as well as the honor of hosting one of the Class 2A State Tournament's eight regional rounds.
"We all had to be able to step up and take their places, keep going," said the freshman Brunson, after logging a game-high 14 points with first place in the balance. "Even though they weren't there, we had to step up."
"There was a little bit of a difference, missing two of them," she noted, with the elder Gomez benched by a bum ankle and the younger adhering to concussion protocol, "because some of our guards didn't get as many (fast) breaks as we usually do. But I still think we did good for them not being there."
"You know, it's not just about one player; it's about the whole team," Howell addded. "I think we always are ready to play with one another. We want them in the game because they're really vital players, but being able to play with other teammates is great too!"
Able to overcome sluggish starts in neutral territory each day en route to sinking THS 38-18 and DHS 46-11, the Bobcats (19-2 overall) will next see Sanford (15-7) Friday, March 2, inside IHS Gymnasium at 3 p.m.
The winner will then meet the winner of Denver Christian (17-4 going in) or Paonia (14-8) who play at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The title game is set for 1 p.m. for the Region VIII title and trip to Loveland's Budweiser Events Center for the decisive "Great Eight" phase, March 8-10.
"It's going to be pretty cool!" said Brunson, who started both D-3 contests. "I'm glad that we were able to pull it off!"
"Last night, that was my first night back actually, so districts is when I came back and, I'm super excited to host regionals!" an amazed Howell said. "Our home court - I'm excited! We've got to stay hungry and that's what we were; we stayed hungry like it's our last game - we always do - and came out strong."
Up 6-5 after the first quarter, Ignacio outscored Dolores 14-0 in the second to build a comfortable halftime pad, which they then inflated to an unapproachable 33-9 going into the fourth quarter.
Senior Allisianna Baker and sophomore Morgan Herrera each finished with seven points for IHS in victory, while sophomore Larissa Gallegos booked six, junior Kiana Valdez five and Howell four. Senior Sarah Hamilton managed seven points for DHS in defeat, while junior Codi Archuleta and senior Sierra Schwartz each booked two.
"Last night, the energy was just down, and I think we did really good with shaking it off, just focusing on this game," said Brunson. "We came out pretty good in the first half, and we picked it up even more."
"Yeah, that was definitely a hard game," Howell agreed, alluding to the win over Telluride. "We started off slow and at the end we realized, like, 'This isn't every other game; this is districts! This is our time!' So that really made us wake up."
BACK IN EFFECT: Scoreless during the win over THS - in which Herrera registered a game-best 15 points, with Gallegos contributing nine and Howell six - Brunson admitted she'd surprised herself probably as much as she did Dolores.
"I was very happy that my shots were finally starting to fall," she said with a grin. "I think I just had to have more confidence in myself, and we all sort of picked up the energy. We were ready to get the game, and kept going, kept pushing."
