The Ignacio High School girls basketball team took care of business in Saturday’s 2A San Juan Basin League District 3 tournament semifinal against No. 4 seed Telluride, as the Bobcats cruised to a 48-17 win.
The Bobcats (13-6, 12-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin League) pounded the post and forced a plethora of turnovers in the first quarter and got out to a 16-5 lead after the first quarter, as Shelcie Gosney had six and Charlize Valdez and Ebonee Gomez each had four points in the frame.
Gosney finished with a game-high 10 points, alongside Ebonee Gomez, while Avaleena Naneto had eight points. The Miners (6-14, 2-10 IML) were led by Margaux Lovely, who had four points, while Kyra Levan had three.
“We wanted to get out to a fast start, and so working together in that first quarter was big for us,” Gosney said. “We had a lot of backdoor cuts and that sort of thing, and I think that was a big part of why we got out to that big lead.”
Ignacio extended the lead to 24-10 heading into the locker room.
IHS head coach Justa Whitt said going down low was the plan all along.
“We were just working on shaping up what we’ve got,” Whitt said. “We’re still missing a lot of little ones underneath the basket, but I’m hoping that’ll come tomorrow or the next few days. All we can do is keep hammering at it.”
It was much of the same story in the second half, as the Bobcats outscored the Miners 24-7.
“Our defense was great, they’ve come together really well,” Whitt said. “We tried a couple of things that was different, but our man-to-man is our strong suit, and we’ve come together really well with that and have made it stronger every time we step on the floor.”
Ignacio will play Dolores in the 2A District 3 championship game at 1 p.m. Sunday at Durango High School.
bploen@durangoherald.com
