LA JARA - You have to hand it to the Glenwood Springs Demons for creativity in heckling.
Their target was actually distracted for a second.
"They were asking me who cut my hair, where I got my socks, where I got my shoes," said Ignacio senior Wyatt Hayes, who shot a look of both amusement and annoyance back to the chatty Glenwood Springs player before sinking one of two free throws with 0:02.6 remaining in last Friday's contest.
And also an answer to at least the first of the attempted jabs.
"I told him, 'I did,'" Hayes laughed, recalling his reply when the subject of his barber was broached.
Missing the second freebie with counterpart Cameron Horning grabbing the rebound, Hayes then calmly smothered the 6'3" senior-allowing him no further opportunity to add to a game-high 26 points, and preserving a 63-58 triumph on Day 2 of the 2015 Mountain Top Classic in La Jara.
Having led IHS with 20 points, while matching classmate Anthony Manzanares (18 points) with three three-pointers in the victory, Hayes spearheaded the next afternoon's 61-53 win over hosting Centauri with a 15-point, 7-steal, 6-assist effort. Manzanares booked 10 points, all in the third quarter, and senior Nick Herrera followed up his 10 points against Glenwood Springs with eight points and seven boards versus the Falcons.
The Bobcat trio was chosen to receive All-Tournament honors, after helping Ignacio storm out quickly against both non-league foes-IHS led the Demons 15-4 at one point during the first quarter, and led CHS by as many as 25-then hold off their late rallies to improve to 3-0 (0-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin) in the young season.
Senior Tucker Ward also provided crucial support, with 10 points against GSHS (1-1, 0-0 4A Western Slope) and a shining 15-point, 11-rebound showing against Centauri (0-2, 0-0 3A Intermountain).
Having led the Demons 20-11 after one quarter, 32-20 through two and 47-33 after three, it appeared third-ranked [CHSAANow.com Class 2A poll, 11/20] Ignacio had buried Glenwood Springs for good when their advantage maxed out at 50-33 on a Manzanares three-point play beginning the fourth quarter.
But sparked by two of reserve freshman guard Angel Garcia's three treys in the game, GSHS mounted an improbable comeback which forced IHS boss Chris Valdez to leave his starters in.
Though quickly offset on the scoreboard, free throws by Ward and Manzanares had kept the 'Cats up by at least eight points until Garcia's last triple brought the Demons back to 61-56. A hard Horning drive soon trimmed the margin down even further, to 62-58, but Glenwood had no choice but to quickly foul whomever-Hayes, in this case-received the subsequent inbounds pass with time rapidly disappearing.
Garcia and senior Mason Yellico each finished with 11 points for GSHS in the loss, and sophomore A.J. Crowley contributed seven. Centauri's high scorers had not been reported by press time.
Up next the Bobcats will travel out to Center to face the non-league 2A Vikings tonight at 7:30 p.m. CHS also stands 3-0 overall after last weekend's winning work in Mosca at Sangre de Cristo's Thunderbird Shootout.
