Make it three trips in a row to the state tournament for the Ignacio Bobcats.
The Ignacio High School boys basketball team has found its stride and will go back to the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 2A State Tournament for the sixth time in eight seasons. Making it possible was a 67-59 win Saturday in Alamosa against Center in the 2A Region 1 tournament at Adams State University.
“I think we’re a top-three team. We’ve been there before and have experience,” IHS head coach Chris Valdez said. “We had a rough fourth quarter (Saturday) and made mistakes, but that’s OK. We can learn and apply it to next week’s games.”
Ignacio (20-2) stormed out to a 32-20 halftime lead, breaking Center’s 1-3-1 zone defense by making 3-point shots. Nicholas Herrera ran the high post to set up the action, and Ignacio capitalized with 3s, including a few big ones from Kruz Pardo in the early going.
It was senior Wyatt Hayes with another monster game. He had a triple-double of 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, and he added another eight steals.
Another senior guard, Anthony Manzanares, was fearless on the floor. He finished with 15 points and five steals and went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
Herrera added a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds, and he added two assists.
Late in the game, Pardo fouled out, and Johnny Valdez entered the game and handled the ball well and made 3-of-5 free throws.
After building a 21-point lead in the second half, Center rallied back to tighten up the game because of a few Bobcats turnovers that led directly to points. That’s one aspect coach Valdez knows the team needs to clean up before facing the state’s top teams next week.
“We can’t turn the ball over for points. We did that a couple of times, and they snuck back in the game,” he said. “They got it done around five points, but we made free throws down the stretch to finish it.”
Valdez said he has seen tremendous growth in his team, and he saw a fire in the players’ eyes Saturday afternoon down the stretch.
“The seniors came together and said, ‘Hey, we’re not going to lose this game,’” Valdez said. “They got in the huddle and made sure we were going to finish the game off.”
State seedings will be released Sunday. Valdez said he doesn’t know what to expect but sees the Bobcats receiving a seed between five and six. Resurrection Christian and Sanford are the two clear favorites for the top seed. A year ago, Sanford was seeded No. 2 and beat Resurrection Christian for the state championship, and Sanford has won 70 consecutive games.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
