Junior Kruz Pardo definitely doesn't want the thrill ride to end anytime soon - especially not until, say, mid-March.
Nobody could really fault him either, having just been crucial in Ignacio's memorable 74-72, double-overtime defeat of non-league 2A Sargent Jan. 19 inside IHS Gymnasium.
"We don't step down from anything," Pardo said, looking ahead to the Bobcats' next scheduled outing two days later. "We're going to go out there and put up 70-something points again. Just play our hearts out; this is how it is from now on."
"It means a lot to us, because we're kind of becoming more of a team now," said junior guard Johnny Valdez, whose layup over Farmer star Joshua Thompson inside the final 10 seconds clinched victory. "This really showed us we can come out and play together, have a good mindset and keep everybody up, not get too negative."
Positives were indeed the order of the day last Saturday, when Ignacio hosted 2A/1A San Juan Basin Leaguers Norwood inside the venue with fans eager to see how the 'Cats would follow up their collective heroics.
The answer: Not to the degree Pardo and others would have liked, but otherwise, just fine.
Norwood senior post Kade Brantingham managed to score 18 points and junior guard Donovan Graves 11 for the Mavericks, but it wouldn't be enough as IHS stretched a 16-13 first-quarter lead into a 35-24 advantage at halftime, and ultimately a 67-45 win.
Valdez finished with 19 points and Pardo 13, and with the Bobcats burning the visitors for 13 three-pointers and a reported 26 steals, there was little stopping them from improving to 6-3 overall, 4-0 in the SJBL.
For the Bobcats, senior Joaquin King maintained a steady diet of sinking three treys and logged nine points. Sophomore Lawrence Valdez hit twice from deep and finished with eight, and freshman Ocean Hunter six.
Junior Cord Colson contributed six points to NHS' cause, with seniors Devyn Rummel and Ethan Shaw each booking four. Norwood dipped to 4-6 overall before walloping Nucla, 84-27, back inside NHS Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Friday, the Bobcats are scheduled to travel to Ridgway-a game postponed Jan. 14. The team's trip to Mancos has been tentatively relisted for Tuesday, Jan. 31.
"We've still got a lot to learn, still developing who we are," said IHS head coach Chris Valdez. "But hopefully if we can grow and continue to get better, sneak in there at the end of the season? You never know!"
The win against Sargent came via an unsual call from Valdez: miss a freethrow.
Pardo was fouled on a last-ditch three-point try with one second remaining against Sargent, and stepped to the foul line for three shots and the 'Cats trailing by four.
The plan at that moment wasn't hard to predict.
"I told Kruz, 'You have to make them both, have to miss the next one,'" Chris Valdez said. "And he missed it just right, Calvin was there to catch it and put it in without coming down, and it was perfect. I mean, it got us a win, because of all the effort from every one of those kids."
Sure enough, Pardo - who would finish 11-of-13 from the charity stripe in posting 23 points - buried the first two and line-drive clanked the third. Having glanced off the backboard, then grazed the back of the rim, the ball hopped perfectly off the front, over a deceived Farmer and into the airborne hands of sophomore Calvin Levato, whose tip-in was perfect as time expired, tying the game at 62 and forcing an overtime.
Sargent's Justin Johnson (20 points) offset a Johnny Valdez late in the extra stanza to re-tie the game at 70-70, but with 0:14.7 left in the second overtime and the score even at 72, Pardo stepped in front of a pass meant for Farmer Hunter Younkerman. After a quick dribble, Pardo zipped the ball ahead to Valdez for what would stand as the winning basket, after Sargent's Ivan Jimenez was just off-line with his desperation three-point try from midcourt.
"We knew, Ignacio is just so danged tough over here," said SHS Head Coach Justin Fricke. "So we said all week they're a team that YOU have to beat; they don't beat themselves. It was a lot of fun, and one that we're going to learn from, going to grow from, for some of the big games we have."
Providing needed energy off the bench, Levato drilled three threes and totaled 15 points, equaling Valdez, for the 'Cats. King finished with nine on three treys as IHS sank 11 while Sargent made just three.
"They got us inside, but we were able to hit a couple good shots - our penetration is what made the game, attacking the basket" said Chris Valdez, aware of the size Norwood would also present. "Kruz had the hot hand, but we had great shooting out of Johnny, Joaquin, and Calvin did some great things for us."
"A lot of things happened that needed to happen, and a lot of things went our way when we needed them to," Pardo said. "And when someone needs to make a big play, everyone steps up, and it was my turn to step up."
