Ignacio High School girls basketball head coach, Shane Seibel, asked his players if they wanted to “make history” in the 2A District 3 championship game against Rangely. At that moment, the score was tied at halftime, but the Bobcats were up to the challenge yet again as they pulled off a 47-31 win that sent IHS to its third state tournament Great 8 in school history.
Now, with another large task ahead of them, they’ll look to make history one more time as the eighth-seeded Bobcats prepare to shock the bracket and upset No. 1 Yuma in Thursday’s opening-round Colorado High School Activities Association 2A Girls State Basketball Tournment matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.
“All season long, we’ve challenged these girls and they’ve delivered for us time after time,” Seibel said. “I know they won’t be intimidated because we feel like we can compete with the best teams out there.”
The Bobcats (16-6) finished second in the regular-season league standings behind Norwood. However, Ignacio has played its best basketball at the right time as it heads into the eight-team tournament having won seven of its last eight games and five in a row. IHS hasn’t lost a game to a 2A opponent in over a month. Its last two losses came against 3A perennial powerhouse Pagosa Springs and 4A Durango which made it all the way to the CHSAA 4A Sweet 16.
The Bobcats are led by junior guard Avionne Gomez. The sharpshooter leads the team with an average of 15.3 points per game, and she can put points on the board in a hurry. Gomez tied the state record earlier this season with 10 made 3-pointers in a 78-31 win against rival Mancos.
When Gomez misses, there’s a good chance Morgan Herrera will be around the basket to pull down the rebound. The fearless freshman, and younger sister of Fort Lewis College legend Alex Herrera, averages a double-double per game with 13.7 points and 10.9 rebounds. Herrera pulled down double-digit rebounds in 12 games this season and grabbed a season-high 22 rebounds in a loss to Sargent earlier this year. She has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games.
The key to the Bobcats, though, is the variety of players who have the ability to contribute in a big way. Freshman Makayla Howell is next in line with 5.9 points per game and senior Alejandra Lujan put up double-digit point totals with regularity down the stretch including 12 key points and a perfect 10-for-10 effort from the free throw line in District 3 title game.
The Bobcats will need all hands on deck to defeat the defending state champion Yuma (20-3) squad.
Yuma has won its last six games and won the District 2 title with a 43-30 victory against Limon. Though the defending champions are certainly worthy of the No. 1 seed, undefeated Paonia (22-0) would have been a logical top seed, along with No. 4 Wray (17-6), which beat Yuma twice this season by double digits.
The Indians are led by sophomore Cody Robinson’s 14.1 points per game. Fellow sophomore Chasey Blach also averages double-figures with 10.9 points and pulls down 11.2 rebounds per game. Junior Avery Whitehead nets 8.8 points per game for the Indians.
Yuma averages 45.7 points per game while Ignacio puts up 45.9. The teams are also neck and neck in rebounds with Yuma averaging 32.1 and IHS 31.8.
“We don’t know much about them and they don’t know much about us,” Seibel said. “When the ball goes up, the seeds don’t matter, and I know our girls will come out and play the type of hard-nosed and scrappy basketball they’ve played all season.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
