Having seen Ignacio's Kruz Pardo not only dribble precious seconds off the clock, but draw two fouls and subsequently drain two free throws after each clock-stopping infraction, Durango's Seth Johnson didn't want Tuesday night's roller-coaster of a game to end with the home team down.
Knowing there was no way the Demons could threaten an eight-point lead with only 0:02.3 left in regulation, Johnson still scooped up a rolled, unguarded inbounds pass, put himself in a straight line with the basket, and fired up a perfect bank-shot three-pointer from just behind midcourt, abruptly hushing the roar of Bobcat fans.
"The basketball gods owed us a shot there," joked Johnson, who finished with four treys and 26 points in a 56-51 loss which could have been far, far worse. Or, had the deities in question so deigned, not even a loss at all-given a second-quarter reversal of fortune which seemed to defy any reason.
"We could have pulled away and blown them out - I thought - but we let 'em back in the game," Ignacio head coach Chris Valdez said, alluding to his team's 12-0 outburst in the first quarter. "But they came back, to their credit, and our guys - thank God - were able to hold 'em off."
Proving that God-and/or the hoop gods-has a sense of humor, Durango's first bucket during a forgettable first frame was a three-pointer by former Bobcat Clay Seibel with 4:38 left, or about a second after a timeout had been called, and unluckily granted. Ignacio senior Cole McCaw then cashed a three after play resumed, followed it up with a two off a steal, and senior Johnny Valdez would end the quarter banking in a three from the right wing.
He'd replicate the shot late in the second quarter-the main reason for Johnson's quip-to re-gain a brief 15-14 advantage. Johnson then drilled a later triple and finishing with nine points in the quarter, the Demons amazingly outscored the 'Cats 20-3 and held a 20-15 lead at halftime.
"That might have been our best quarter all season," Johnson said.
"He can drive, he can shoot, and we just had to rotate off of him, take turns on him," said Pardo. "We know he can score, know what he can do, and we just had to make the rest of them beat us."
Getting a combined seven third-quarter points from 6'5" Al Hurworth and 6'3" Ian Black in support of five from Johnson and two from junior Cullen Robinette, the Demons (3-15, 1-4 4A/5A Southwestern) attempted to do just that.
But after Ignacio re-tied the game at 26-26, via an Ocean Hunter inside hoop assisted by Pardo, the Bobcats got a surprise three from freshman forward/center Bryce Finn, eight total points from the previously-scoreless Hunter, and another McCaw three to sew up the stanza with the guests up 38-34.
"Whenever we have somebody going through things we don't really.look for someone to just have a big game; we look for everybody to come off the bench and contribute," Pardo said. "And that's exactly what we had tonight; we had the freshmen step up big-we don't have Kai (Roubideaux) and Lawrence (Valdez), and they played amazing."
"For us having two freshmen (Finn, Dylan Labarthe) and a sophomore (Hunter) out there trying to 'hold the fort' down," said Valdez, sneaking in a Fort Lewis College pun to salute the occasion's neutral site, "we did what we had to do - when Bryce got hurt, I put a guard down there - to take care of that."
Johnny Valdez began the fourth quarter with a basket off a steal, and Robinette was immediately hit with a technical foul for disputing a no-call on what he believed should have been a traveling violation. Pardo then sank one of the two resulting freebies, and with DHS again struggling to find the basket, IHS (11-3, 8-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin) expanded the lead to 46-35 via another McCaw three with 3:58 remaining.
"We've been working on our press for a good two weeks now. Just press this, press that: 1-2-2, 2-3, man, everything.every single kind of defense!" said Pardo. "I mean, we get our shooting in and it's straight to defense!"
"That's our strong point this year-we know it's been our weak in the past-and we're just trying to strengthen it so that we can go and get our ultimate goal."
Labarthe then converted a key three-point play with 1:44 left, taking contact from Demon Martin Cuntz on a close-range basket and then sinking the 'and-one' FT, and Durango would get no closer than 50-46 via a three from, yep, Johnson, who totaled 12 points in the quarter.
"It's a cool thing we do with Ignacio," said DHS head coach Alan Batiste. "It's cool for the boys to witness that college floor and play where FLC is ranked. It's a good opportunity for them."
"And they've come a long way from earlier this season," he added.
"We came out and hit some shots early, played some decent defense. And then they started penetrating us and we just stopped moving our feet; I was a little upset about that, because they moved right into the game," said Valdez. "But it was good; we need that challenge, need to dig inside sometimes, and tonight was one of those nights where we had to dig inside."
And not just to defeat the Demons, now beaten by Ignacio, Bayfield and Montezuma-Cortez in the same varsity campaign for the first time anyone could recall, but just to ball at all. Prior to the starting lineups' introductions, there was a moment of silence for Ignacio Basketball observed inside Whalen Gymnasium; Valdez later revealed his father had passed away not long before tipoff.
"But you know what? He lived a full life, and tonight we honored him," the coach said proudly.
"What we have inside the locker room is special," Pardo stated. "We're a family, and everything that happens to each other affects everybody else. These guys are my brothers; I'd go through hell and back with these guys."
Coming off a 79-31 demolition of Norwood in SJBL home action three nights before, the 'Cats got 14 points from McCaw, 12 from Pardo and ten from Johnny Valdez (who'd joined Pardo and senior reserve Daniel Weaver in booking a team-high 14 against NHS). Hunter finished with eight, Finn nine and Labarthe three.
Now winners of seven games straight, IHS will next resume league work Friday, Feb. 9, at Telluride (7-8, 6-3 SJBL) and the next day at Ridgway (6-10, 5-5).
"We're working towards where we want to be. Of course we're not there yet, but.I'm very impressed with how we've been playing lately," said Pardo, "and looking forward to getting back on the court!"
