IGNACIO – When Ignacio High School’s winter schedule was released in November, Saturday was circled on the calendar for two reasons – the wrestling team was hosting the annual Butch Melton Invitational, one of the best tournaments in the Four Corners, and the Bobcat basketball teams had crucial tilts against Telluride – not at Ignacio’s gym, but rather at the SunUte Community Center.
Despite the location change, the boys earned a 34-33 win over the Miners after Ocean Hunter made the game-winning free throw with 13 seconds left. Bryce Finn led the way with 10 points for the Bobcats, while Hunter had seven. Triston Thompson and Brady McCaw had six each.
Ignacio head coach Chris Valdez said it was not his team’s flashiest or finest performance over the fellow 2A/1A San Juan Basin League rival, but they got it done.
“It was a rough shooting day for pretty much everybody,” Valdez said. “We won the game. We played a tough game (Friday) and were pretty tired, so playing in a place that isn’t our home gym, I thought we did OK.”
While much of the Bobcats’ team was off the mark, Telluride’s Ian Enkema was on. He had a game-high 20 points, including six 3-pointers as he kept the Miners (10-5, 6-3 SJBL) in the game. He had six of his team’s eight points in the fourth quarter.
“Coming into today, I knew how huge of a game it was for both teams, so I just tried to get open and did all I could to keep us in it,” Enkema said. “In the fourth quarter, we missed some easy shots that we’d normally make and made some tough ones, so if we got a few of those baskets to fall, I think the outcome may have been different.”
Ignacio (8-7, 6-2 SJBL) led by as many as 10 points late in the second half and held a 23-15 lead heading into the locker room. In the second half, the Miners stepped up their defensive intensity and held IHS to four points in the third quarter to get within 27-25 going to the fourth.
With less than one minute remaining, Enkema hit one of his two 3s in the frame to make it a three point game with just 33.1 seconds left. The following play, the Bobcats rushed down the court and were looking for a fast-break basket, but a charging violation was called and the Miners would have a shot to tie it. On the ensuing drive, Enkema spun in the lane and lifted his pivot foot and was called for a travel.
Hunter was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws to make it 34-30 with 13 seconds remaining. Enkema drove down and hit a 3 with 2.8 seconds to play, but the Bobcats were able to dribble out the rest of the clock to secure the win.
“It was a frantic last minute there, and it was a lot like our road trip to Telluride,” Valdez said. “We had a three-point lead up there, and Ocean hit one out of two to win, and we ended up pulling it off by four. Any win against a team like Telluride is a big one, and he stepped up for us.”
Ignacio will travel to play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Del Norte.
“We’re above .500 now, and that was a big goal for us considering how young we are,” Valdez said. “We started the season 2-6, and we’re 6-1 since mid January. We’ve got a lot to learn, but I’m proud of our efforts, for sure.”
The Ignacio girls basketball team will have plenty of momentum heading into Tuesday night’s clash against Del Norte despite an off-shooting afternoon in a 36-14 win over the Telluride Miners Saturday at the SunUte Community Center.
The Bobcats (12-4, 11-0 SJBL) shot just 3-of-30 from the floor in the second half, but the defense got it done and held the Miners (3-10, 1-7 SJBL) to just nine points in the second half.
“The baskets weren’t falling, so I’m hoping that’s a prelude to shooting a high percentage on Tuesday,” said IHS head coach Justa Whitt. “This is a nice facility, there’s no doubt about it, but I think that might have been part of the problem; we weren’t in our usual home gym with that amount of energy we always get. Monday will be a regroup day, and we’ll tweak some things here or there, but otherwise, we’re ready for Tuesday.”
Monika Lucero led IHS with eight points, while Makayla Howell had six.
Ignacio will take on Del Norte at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
bploen@durangoherald.com
