Despite becoming the fifth opponent in Ignacio's eight outings held to 20 points or fewer, Telluride somehow avoided the sort of fate which befell fellow 2A/1A San Juan Basin Leaguers Ridgway the previous evening. Both squads were also struggling to simply put forth a starting five in recent weeks.
Traveling to IHS Gymnasium Saturday afternoon, Jan. 13, the Miners found themselves trailing early (down 24-4 after one quarter) in much the same way as had the Demons (down 26-3), but ultimately lost by a far closer margin, 54-16.
Senior guard Avionne Gomez led all players with her 18 points, sophomore center Morgan Herrera added 15 and senior reserve forward Allisianna Baker also reached double figures with her 10. Freshman guard Ebonee Gomez, who'd actually outscored (16 to 14) her big sister the previous evening, chipped in six. Telluride did not report team stats, but turnovers - forced or not - likely outnumbered the offensive output.
And that, as well as his team's diverse scoring, was the prime continuation of the previous evening's action which likely pleased head coach Trae Seibel the most.
"We played a well-rounded game," he said. "Just about everyone got in the scorebook. The girls stayed together, against a pretty tall Telluride team and hit some outside shots."
RHS head coach Nate Firkins, like Telluride's Jose Orellana, knew things might get out of hand quickly, and stressed to his team just to continue working as hard as they could and do whatever they could.
Arriving with a roster reduced to just six serviceable players by two out-of-district moves, one knee injury and another player turning in her uniform for personal reasons, Firkins really couldn't tell his crew much more against a team which not only held it scoreless for the first five minutes, 38 seconds, but let it cross midcourt just once during the first three minutes of an 84-7 blowout. One of his players was competing in just her second game.
Complicating matters more, Demon freshman Lia Todd fouled out with 10.8 seconds left in the third quarter, leaving sophomore teammates Geri-June Hall and Lily Harrington to walk on eggshells during the final frame as each had already accrued four personal fouls with no more substitutes available.
Herrera's 20 points, 16 coming during the first half, led the game. Ignacio won 50-7, with RHS failing to score in the third and fourth quarters. Sophomore Michaela Messer led Ridgway (0-8, 0-2) with five, and Hall nailed two second-quarter free throws for the visitors' other two points.
For Ignacio, Baker nearly reached double figures with her nine points, freshman forward/center Shelcie Gosney did likewise with eight, and freshman guard Jayden Brunson booked six as nine of Seibel's 11 players contributed at least one point.
Going into the weekend ranked eighth in the CHSAANow.com Class 2A poll, the 'Cats improved to 8-0 overall and 5-0 SJBL with the win. Up next, the 'Cats will visit Norwood on Saturday with the day's action set to begin at 2 p.m., and then host Nucla on Jan. 26 inside SunUte Community Center. IHS also has a non-league trip to 2A Sargent on Thursday.
