The possibility of a second consecutive trip to the state tournament still exists for the Ignacio High School girls basketball team.
The Bobcats will have to go through a familiar foe to get there, though.
IHS will play Paonia at 7 p.m. Friday at Whalen Gymnasium in the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 2A Region 3 tournament.
The Bobcats finished second in their district tournament while Paonia (18-5) lost to Meeker in the District 5 championship game. Ridgway will play Sargent at 4 p.m. Friday in the other regional semifinal.
“Honestly I guess it was a pleasant surprise,” IHS head coach Shane Seibel said. “Typically we’d be travelling to Alamosa or Grand Junction. To be able to play here at Fort Lewis and see Paonia again, it’s a great opportunity for our girls.”
IHS (9-13) defeated Paonia 53-49 in last season’s regional championship game at Durango High School to advance to the state tournament.
The Bobcats’ three leading scorers from that game are gone because of graduation, however.
Still, Gabriela Garcia and Cloe Seibel both scored four points in that contest and have played in the state tournament before.
“They’re battle-tested,” coach Seibel said. “They’re able to know what it took last year, and it also provides a great experience for them to be a point of reference.”
Carson Pipher leads Paonia in scoring at 11.8 points per game.
Three additional Paonia players average more than five points per contest.
The Bobcats didn’t play Paonia during the regular season, but they are very familiar with both Ridgway and Sargent.
Sargent topped IHS 30-23 on Dec. 14 while Ridgway took the Bobcats down 50-33 in the District 3 championship game.
The difference from both of those contests this time around will be a staunchly pro-Bobcat crowd at Whalen Gymnasium.
Both IHS’ boys and girls teams were selected for the Region 3 tournament, so fans won’t have to choose who to support.
“I think there’s some definite advantages and also some obstacles we’ve gotta go through with our girls and playing in front of such a large crowd,” coach Seibel said. “That’s kind of the flip side I’ve noticed. (Playing in Durango will) be a plus, though, especially for our seniors.”
Few could have predicted the Bobcats would end up here after starting the season 2-10, but Seibel knows what his team needs to do to make it back to Pueblo for the state tournament.
“Quite frankly our man to man defense and our offensive woes are going to have to take a turn for the better,” he said. “We struggled to put the ball in the hoop in the district championship. Those are things that are correctable.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
