The relaxed nature of his team worries Ignacio High School boys basketball head coach Chris Valdez sometimes.
Others, it doesn’t.
Either way, the Bobcats calm approach and attitude seems to be working.
IHS (21-0) is ranked No. 1 in Class 2A by CHSAANow.com and will play Del Norte at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College in the Class 2A Region 3 semifinals.
“This team is just a relaxed bunch of kids,” Valdez said. “They don’t get overly excited; they don’t get overly down on themselves.”
The pressure of a regional semifinal certainly won’t phase these Bobcats. They’ve been here before every year of their careers and won in every year of their careers. The Bobcats have won seven consecutive San Juan Basin League championships.
It’s the next game at regionals that has caused trouble.
IHS has lost the last two regional finals it’s played in after winning in 2011.
But the Bobcats won’t worry about a potential regional final Saturday; they have to go through Del Norte (8-14) first on Friday.
“That is one thing we talked about when we took over the No. 1 ranking,” Valdez said. “For the fist week or two you could see a little pressure in their eyes. Now, I think they’ve gotten to the point where they think, ‘It doesn’t mean nothing unless we win.’ One possession at a time is one of our mottos.”
Del Norte has the second-worst record of teams still alive in the Class 2A playoffs, but that doesn’t mean the Bobcats are taking the Tigers lightly.
Del Norte scores 46.2 points per game, led by Hayden Bell’s 14.1 per game.
“He’s a strong-looking kid that can go inside and attack the basket,” Valdez said. “They have some good team speed. They don’t outmatch us by any stretch at any position, but we don’t outmatch them.”
Del Norte turns the ball over 17.3 times per game, which plays to the Bobcats’ strength; the Bobcats steal the ball 14.9 times per game and make 5.3 blocks per game.
Should IHS win, it will play either Rangely or Sangre de Cristo in the championship game Saturday at FLC.
“If we can play our game and get the right shots we want to and not take a bunch of bad shots that put us in a bad situation, I think we should be OK,” Valdez said.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
