Ignacio freshman Avionne Gomez scored as many points as the entire Mancos girls basketball team through three quarters Friday in Ignacio.
The Bluejays’ Taylor Goff canned a 3 at the start of the fourth quarter to put Mancos back on top of Gomez, but that shot only reduced the overall deficit to 38-20 as IHS cruised to its third San Juan League win 53-24 at the SunUte Community Center.
The Bobcats built their lead by holding Mancos to 19 percent shooting in the game and forcing 15 turnovers.
“It was really important to keep our energy level up high and build some defensive intensity,” IHS head coach Shane Seibel said. “We’ve got to be able to hang our hat on defense.”
That’s not to say Gomez didn’t earn her 17 points. She made 6-of-8 shots from the field and all four free throws.
“I was hitting my free throws. Last game I only made one out of six,” said Gomex, daughter of Geneva and Kenneth Gomez. “I feel like I was in good spots for my teammates to pass.”
She wasn’t the only freshman making a difference for the Bobcats, though. Center Hilda Gracia scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, scoring eight of her points in the fourth.
“They’re just growing leaps and bounds,” Seibel said of his freshmen. “We’re going to need them more and more down the stretch.”
IHS (6-3, 3-0 SJL) tore off a 15-3 run in the second quarter. And the Bobcats didn’t allow Mancos to make a field goal for the first 3 minutes, 44 seconds of the game. They also held the Bluejays scoreless from the field for an additional 16:44 of gametime after that.
All of Ignacio’s steals in the third quarter led to a wealth of fastbreak points.
“Sometimes our offensive sets don’t work, but a good pressure defense will stoke our offense,” Seibel said.
IHS built a 34-8 lead halfway through the third quarter, prompting Seibel to pull all of his starters in favor of bench players.
The non-starters struggled at times with turnovers but managed to hold Ignacio’s lead, gaining valuable experience along the way.
“That is huge for our team morale. It allows our starters to cheer on their bench players,” Seibel said. “Quite frankly, the bench is there a lot to morally support. It’s nice to give them a chance to play.”
It also gave the starters a chance to rest before a 3:30 p.m. game Saturday against Telluride in Ignacio.
“Building momentum. We don’t want any letdown. We actually want to start faster,” Seibel said. “Pick up the pace. Get better than we were (Friday).”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
