There’s a lot to be excited about for the Ignacio High School girls basketball team heading into the 2018-19 season, and head coach Justa Whitt, who is in the first season of her second stint as IHS head coach, has reason to believe this year’s team could break out.
The Bobcats will head into the first game of the season Friday ranked No. 10 in the Colorado High School Activities Association’s Class 2A preseason poll. Last year, the Bobcats went 21-4 and reached the state tournament. Six players returned from that team, including senior Kiana Valdez and star juniors Larissa Gallegos and Makayla Howell.
With so many returning players, Whitt said the potential of this year’s team is there despite losing some key pieces.
“It’s absolutely promising, there’s no doubt,” Whitt said. “We’ve got a strong bench and returners from last year, so it’s a new team. We lost a few key players, so it’s a whole new start for everybody and everything is new. Given the changes, the girls have responded amazingly, and we’re really excited about what the future holds for this season.”
Howell, a junior forward, will return as the team’s leading scorer after she averaged 7.3 points per game, while Gallegos returned after she averaged 6.7 points in 20 games last season.
Whitt took over for Trae Seibel, who coached last season in place of his father, Shane. Ignacio lost both its leading scorers, Avionne Gomez and Morgan Herrera, who was also last season’s leading rebounder. Gomez graduated, while Herrera moved out of state. Another key loss was Allisianna Baker-Marquez, who averaged 6.3 points per game and 3.8 rebounds her senior season.
This year, the Bobcats will feature four sophomores, all of whom played more than 15 games last year. Headlining the bunch is forward Shelcie Gosney, who returns as the team’s leading rebounder, as she averaged 4.6 per game last season alongside 1.3 steals per game.
Whitt said she is looking forward to seeing who will step up as a leader.
“I’m waiting to see how we do in a game-like situation, and we’ve got several leader-like personalities,” Whitt said. “The more practice time we get, it will be better improvement. Since I came in, the girls have worked exceptionally hard in practice. My mission is all about them, not me.”
Ignacio will look to get off to a quick start at 4 p.m. Friday against Crowley County in the Limon Invitational. If Ignacio wins, it would face an early season top-10 clash against Limon, the second-ranked team in the preseason poll which finished fourth in last season’s state playoffs.
Ignacio will try to repeat as Class 2A/1A San Juan Basin League champions. It went a perfect 12-0 in conference play last season. Whitt said the early tournament test will help prepare her squad for the grind of the league season.
“I think we should have the same look at the conference and feel that we should dominate,” Whitt said. “That’s not the challenge we’re looking for; we’re looking for them to get better and peak at the right time and continue to improve their skills throughout, but I definitely think we should dominate our league again.
“It’s definitely great to be in this tournament. Normally, we’ve gone down to New Mexico, and while it’s not bad, we tried to make it a better schedule for RPI purposes. If we do play Limon, that’d be a great matchup, and anybody is beatable. It’s a test to see where we’re at, and we’re excited.”
Whitt’s second stint will hopefully be as successful as her first, as she led the Bobcats to the state tournament in the 2012-13 season. With a young squad that has plenty of potential, she is looking forward to the early tests and the remainder of the season.
“Regardless of the fact that it’s a young squad, we’ve got players who have been to the state tournament, and the whole crew that went last year,” Whitt said. “Given they’ve had that experience alone helps a lot, and we want to do better than we did last year. We have to play harder than last year, and I think they can and will.”
bploen@durangoherald.com
