Unable to get the best look at the basket, the Ignacio girls basketball team at least had a look – with a capable shooter holding the ball.
With time dwindling, sophomore guard Marissa Olguin let fly a 3-pointer from the far corner and her teammates, coaches and fans could practically see overtime approaching on Friday.
Pagosa Springs, however, exhaled collectively a moment later when the buzzer-beating shot skidded off the rim, finalizing the visitors’ 32-29 road win inside IHS Gymnasium.
Minus injured sophomore cog Elizabeth Currier (left hamstring), and later senior Chantelle Caldwell after she fouled out with 15.6 seconds left and the Pirates up three, PSHS made do despite getting scoring from just four players and going a collective 3-of-13 from the free-throw line.
In a contest that was low-scoring but tight throughout – Pagosa Springs led 9-6 after one quarter, 16-12 at halftime and 23-20 through three quarters – Ignacio managed to forge ahead, 29-28, when junior reserve Maci Barnes sunk a crowd-rocking three-pointer with 2:36 remaining.
Unfortunately O’Donnell answered quickly with a basket in the lane, then upped the guests’ lead to 31-29 with a free throw with 0:27 left on the clock. She totaled a team-high 12 points while sophomore starter Kylie Ketchum added 10.
Shahan and Caldwell each registered five points in the victory, which followed close losses to Centauri and Alamosa.
For Ignacio (7-7, 1-5 IML), senior Harmony Reynolds piled up a game-high 14 points. Barnes’ earlier triple gave her six points in defeat. Senior guard Laci Brunson went 3-of-4 from the charity stripe (the Bobcats went 5-of-11 as a team) for three points. Olguin, junior Darlyn Mendoza-Lechuga and junior Solymar Cosio each tallied two.
IHS was to next host Bayfield on Saturday afternoon while Pagosa Springs (5-12, 4-3 3A/4A Intermountain) was to visit AHS (13-4, 6-1).
Traveling to La Jara on Friday, the Bayfield girls were simply swamped by Centauri, 71-8. Centauri was ranked No. 3 in the week-starting CHSAANow.com Class 3A poll; Ignacio was the second-highest “Others Receiving Votes” pick and Alamosa stood No. 10 in 4A.
The Falcons (14-2, 7-0) led 20-2 after one quarter, then went into halftime up 40-2. Senior Abbey Smith led the way offensively with her 14 points, and senior Amaya Garcia was right behind with 13. BHS slid to 3-11, 0-7 after the loss.
After losing just its second game of the season last week, the Durango girls basketball team responded with a pair of home wins on Friday and Saturday in nonleague contests.
DHS beat Palisade 40-27 on Friday. The Demons led 9-2 after the first quarter and 13-5 at halftime, but pulled away from Palisade in both the third and fourth quarters.
On Saturday, Glenwood and DHS went into overtime, but the Demons prevailed, 40-35.
DHS improved to 15-2 overall with the wins while PHS slipped to 5-14 and Glenwood dropped to 12-6.
Aided by a season-high shooting percentage and double-digit efforts from three Skyhawks, the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team earned a 72-53 win over CSU Pueblo in Friday night Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
FLC made 21-of-38 field goals in the game (55.3%), which was the team’s best shooting effort since a Dec. 31, 2018 when it shot 59.1 against Northern New Mexico.
Lanae Billy led all players with 23 points while going 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. Kelsey Sorenson followed with 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Alyssa Adams scored 10 point and graduate student Kaitlyn Bell chipped in an eight-point, five-rebound night.
