Seemingly more content to bang and bruise up local nemesis Mancos the night before, the Dolores Bears certainly weren't looking forward to squaring off against San Juan Basin League powerhouse Ignacio the next afternoon for the Class 2A-District 3 girls' tournament title.
To be fair, not many squads anywhere would have been after witnessing the Bobcats ravage Ridgway by an incredible 68 points in the Feb. 26-27 event's very first contest. That made IHS' 35-point rout of DHS on Day 2 seem almost competitive by comparison.
But with the 'Cats swiftly building up a double-digit advantage in just one quarter of play inside Montezuma-Cortez High School and never really relaxing their full-court pace and pressure, there was no questioning Ignacio's championship resolve.
Or that sophomore Avionne Gomez would likely have been the D-3 MVP. Every one of Shane Seibel's players contributed greatly, but Gomez followed up her 18-point performance in IHS' 78-10 thrashing of the Ridgway Demons with an incendiary 21 against Dolores. She buried five three-pointers on top of four the afternoon before, fueling a 63-28 triumph to power Ignacio into the 2A-Region I tournament in Alamosa this weekend.
"All year we've been trying to make a hundred," said senior guard Chrystianne Valdez, who scored two points against RHS and nine versus DHS. "That's been our goal; I mean, who doesn't want to make triple digits?" Winning the game, however, has been the girls' top priority.
"We wanted to come out strong; we've been having a rocky start to most league games," Valdez continued. "We'll finish strong at the end, which helps, but we wanted to.stay strong the whole time and I think we accomplished that."
Catching fire even faster than her teammate on Day 1 of districts, sophomore Hilda Garcia sank two treys and totaled 10 of her 15 points against Ridgway in the first quarter as IHS blasted out to a 17-2 lead. Senior forward/center Miriam Fernandez-Lopez canned a surprise triple late in the second, helping the 'Cats inflate their pad to 36-5 at halftime. She finished the game with 13 points.
Senior forward Gibran Silva launched an unplanned three and watched - to the Demons' horror - as it splashed through the net just before the third quarter expired. That widened the gap to a 60-6 chasm and put Silva in position to finish the rampage with 10 points.
"Our bench did their job.it was just well-rounded," Valdez said. "Everyone played their game."
Able to limit RHS to only three makes from the floor, Ignacio then allowed DHS just seven as from start to finish, offensively and defensively, the 'Cats thoroughly "honored the game," according to Seibel.
"And they never played down," he stated.
IHS led the Bears 16-6 after one quarter, 37-20 through two, and 50-26 at the end of the third as again, all nine in uniform scored at least one point. Senior Ellie Seibel booked eight along with senior Cortney Wilson-Baker. Fernandez-Lopez registered six and Garcia five.
Junior Madi Archuleta managed seven for Dolores, and senior Larissa Umberger and freshman Aryelle Wright each contributed six. Junior Emma Copp and sophomore Bianca Icke led Ridgway with three points apiece, and the Demons (6-16) were then coldly eliminated by MHS, 42-41, in the D-3 third-place game.
Seeded #1 in 2A-Region I, IHS (now 17-4 overall) will first take on Westcliffe-based Custer County (8-12), fifth place in District 1 but the regional's 8-seed, at noon Friday, March 4, out in Alamosa inside Adams State University's Plachy Hall. The winner then faces either 4-seed Sargent (14-8) or #5 Dolores (now 12-8) at 2 p.m. Saturday at the same site for the right to advance to the next weekend's state championships.
Fighting on the other side of the bracket for the other pass to Pueblo will be #2 Del Norte, #7 Center, #3 Sanford and #6 Mancos. DNHS (19-5; D-1 champions) and CHS (6-16) will go head-to-head at ASU at 4 p.m. Friday while SHS (14-8) and MHS (10-10) clash at Monte Vista High School. The winners will meet inside Plachy at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
