Sacrificing steering for speed wasn't what head coach Chris Valdez had in mind.
His Bobcat boys were able to take command of the 2A-District 3 Tournament's championship clash against Mancos early in the second quarter, via a 10-0 burst. But they also nearly ran their own wheels off and lost control on the road to an 11th consecutive district-level title on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 24, inside Montezuma-Cortez High School Gymnasium.
"We tend to panic," admitted senior guard Kruz Pardo, "and make a lot of passes we don't need to. And towards the end of the third quarter, start of the fourth, we figured out that if we just thread the ball, make nice, crisp, bounce- and chest-passes where everybody wants to catch them, they're going to catch them. We had to call timeout, take a couple deep breaths."
The Bobcats saw their earlier advantage trimmed down to just 24-22 at halftime, and erased completely with 1:03 left in the third. Then a Pardo freethrow gave the San Juan Basin League's preeminent muscle machine a shaky 31-30 lead entering the home stretch. The 'Cats refueled mentally and went on to race away in style.
"We got a little lead on them and let them back in the game-at that point I knew it was going to be a dogfight," Coach Valdez said. "And at the end, that fourth quarter, we were tired, but you could see the look in your seniors' eyes that, you know, 'We're not going to be the one team, not to get a district championship!'"
"I saw Kruz attack the basket that one time, hit that layup, and (junior Lawrence) Valdez with that little ball fake and layup, and I was like, 'It's time. They're going to do it,'" he continued. "And I just kind of sat back and let them do their thing, and they outscored them 14 to zero that last quarter!"
Both guards drove hard for aggressive, physical layups beginning the final eight minutes. Senior center Kai Roubideaux twisted inside for a hoop, and senior Johnny Valdez confidently drained a three-pointer for a 40-30 lead with 5:33 left.
The Blue Jays took a timeout, but after failing to produce at the offensive end, saw Ignacio accelerate the pace even more with Lawrence Valdez slotting a perfect bounce-pass through traffic to Johnny Valdez cutting along the baseline for a layup and 12-point pad.
"Spacing was definitely vital, in pushing the ball," stated Pardo.
And after coming in off a 52-27 romp over Ridgway in the previous afternoon's semifinals, there would be no more letting up. Roubideaux added one more hoop, Lawrence Valdez one more free throw, and MHS was unable to avoid a shutout stanza in falling 45-30.
"We came out and we didn't look good, I thought," Valdez said, his team leading 10-7 after the first frame thanks to a Pardo triple with 56 ticks left. "But - especially - as tired as we were, we got them tired too. We knew their shots weren't going to be on if they did get a shot off against our zone, and we could get the rebound because we're in good position."
"We were tired, we knew that they were tired," said Pardo, "but we've been working our butts off all season - conditioning, running - so, we wanted to push the ball, get some looks inside."
Roubideaux finished with nine points, but more importantly was able to help keep Mancos' Caden Showalter occupied defensively and the sophomore big finished with just two points and no baskets. Pardo led all players with his 15 points, Lawrence Valdez totaled 10, and Johnny Valdez seven.
Senior Caleb Yoder booked a gutsy 13 points in defeat and Medina finished with seven, but just one after intermission as the Jays managed just two field goals in the third and fourth quarters combined.
"No one said a word," Pardo said, recalling the team's huddle prior to the fourth. "We were not about to give up, no matter what. Everybody just had this look on their faces; we knew what we needed to do and we got it done!"
Up next, Ignacio (17-4 overall) will host Region VI and first face Denver Christian (10-12) at 4:45 p.m. Friday, March 2. The winner will play either Limon (16-5) or Hotchkiss (14-8), participants in that night's 8:15 game, at 2:45 p.m. Saturday for a berth into the "Great Eight," March 8-10 at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.
"Part of the joy of the State Tournament is having the opportunity to play teams we normally don't get to see on a year-in, year-out basis," said Denver Christian coach Ben Dirksen, "and this matchup definitely fits that. We have a young group who love a challenge, and there is no better challenge than traveling to top-ten Ignacio."
