The Ignacio High School girls basketball came close to pulling off a 10-point comeback on Saturday against Alamosa inside IHS gymnasium, but the Bobcats fell just short.

The Mean Moose (7-1), ranked No, 7 in the latest Colorado High School Activities Association Class 3A poll, made enough free throws down the stretch to hold on to a 44-39 win.

Ignacio (3-4), No. 10 in the CHSAA 2A poll, had a chance to tie the game late, but the Mean Moose sank a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win.

The Mean Moose raced out to a 16-14 lead after the first quarter, and would extend it to as much as 11 midway through the second quarter before the Bobcats closed the gap to 25-18 at halftime. In the fourth quarter, the Mean Moose led by eight before the Bobcats stormed back on a 6-0 run, but the Mean Moose were able to close out the win out at the free-throw line.

“It was back and forth for most of the game, they’d get up by nine or 10 and we’d come back a little bit,” said IHS head coach Justa Whitt. “We got as close as 3 at the end, it was 42-39 and it turned into a little free-throw game there, we didn’t capitalize and missed a couple of them. We had a couple of missed decisions in terms of our offensive execution down the stretch, but it was a well-played game by both teams. My girls, they put everything on the floor that they had and it even though its a loss, it was a great game to build on and we will be able to correct some things. Very pleased with the girls today.”

Statistics were not available.

Ignacio will play Del Norte at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Del Norte.

bploen@durangoherald.com