DURANGO-You've no doubt heard the call-and-response "I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE THAT! I BELIEVE THAT WE.." chant, popularized within the last decade or so?
Tuesday night, those shouting it appeared to take pride in a lie.
There was no belief until Durango's 8-2 closing run after Ignacio's Anthony Manzanares drained three free throws with 2:56 left, keeping the Bobcats within a 10-point (54-45) striking distance and with plenty of long-range sniper capability on the court.
And even when it was obvious the Demons would prevail, that statement of faith was still relatively weak.
DHS had Guy Bay, whose third-quarter play put Durango ahead by nine (41-32). Ignacio never came closer than seven during the decisive eight minutes in succumbing 62-47.
"We learned a lot," said IHS senior Wyatt Hayes, hounded constantly inside Fort Lewis College's Whalen Gymnasium by Bay and any other backcourt defender Alan Batiste could send out. "Learned, I guess, how to stay in the games late, but I don't know.we need to work harder, find a way to get a win in these types of games."
"I love loud games and I like the intensity," he added, hinting at a post-IHS future. "It's pretty awesome!"
Funny, but that's exactly what Bay said.
"I love the intensity," said the senior, who wasn't exactly born into the La Plata County crews' revamped rivalry like, say, fellow senior guards Terrance Trujillo (14 points) or Lukas Baken (11).
"Moved here when I was 17," he said, mentioning he'd previously attended much larger Scottsdale Cactus Shadows and Surprise Valley Vista High Schools in Arizona before coming to Colorado, "so I've only been living here about a year and a half! Didn't really get to play a whole lot last year, so.."
So there was no time like the present, apparently. And as far as Durango was concerned, no instant could have been better than when Bay immediately followed up his seven-point third quarter with a three-pointer early in the fourth to put the Demons up by 10-an advantage that for most of the game would have been only a dream.
Ignacio senior center Nick Herrera went hard to the hoop for the game's first points, and the first quarter would ended DHS 15, IHS 14. Demon senior Lawrence Mayberry put in a late layup to take the sting out of Manzanares' first clutch triple.
His second put the 'Cats up 23-20 late in the second quarter, but DHS senior center/forward Scott Morse managed a late bucket inside to keep Durango (7-3, 0-0 4A/5A Southwestern) slightly ahead, 27-25, at halftime. Scoreless during the frame, Hayes managed five points in the third but had only senior Tucker Ward's two non-sequential freethrows in support as DHS won the period 14-7.
"They hit a couple big shots," Ignacio head coach Chris Valdez said. "The reason they hit those? They were being aggressive on their screens and getting away with some stuff.and we weren't doing it. It wasn't like we were getting away with it; we just weren't being physical!"
"Yeah, they played more aggressive," concurred Hayes, "and we're not used to playing aggressive teams." IHS is now ranked #4 in the CHSAANow.com Class 2A poll.
Sophomore guard Kruz Pardo (7 points) sank all four of his fourth-quarter freethrows. He, Manzanares and Hayes combined to go 10-of-13 down the stretch, but a Hayes trey and driving layup were the only baskets the Bobcats (8-1, 3-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin) could muster.
Meanwhile, Morse added two buckets to finish with 12 points. Senior forward Orion Clay netted one and a pair of charity chucks to officially book 11-giving Batiste an impressive five Demons in double figures. Hayes paced all players with 17 and Manzanares totaled 12, but Herrera was held to just his five first-quarter points.
"Early we.got a couple of inside ones to Nick," Valdez said. "And then they started pinching in a little bit; that's when they started becoming a little more physical, getting tips on the ball, and we were shying away instead of getting after it. I thought.they didn't play harder than us, just more physical than we did."
He continued: "They posted us up a little with their bigger guards, and not a lot of teams have bigger guards than us-we'll be able to utilize that same thing against other teams."
The first chance to do so will come tonight inside IHS Gymnasium in SJBL play versus Dove Creek.
"They've got a bunch of seniors on that team, Jordan Ernst is a tough kid.and they've played pretty close to Ouray, pretty close-four points-with Ridgway, so it's going to be a tough game," Valdez said. "We'll get back on our home floor and hopefully get a win!"
