Fans of the Bobcat girls certainly got more-and thankfully less-bang for their bucks all at once last Saturday after the squad returned to host Telluride and sew up a successful 2015-16 regular-season slate.
More in that Ignacio torched THS for 64 points, as opposed to managing just 33 the night before in Norwood, and thankfully less in that IHS' players left their home court with far fewer bumps and bruises than they'd done in a loss to the Mavericks.
Sophomore Avionne Gomez, slowed briefly at NHS by a shot to the face which appeared to knock out a contact lens, took out frustrations from a five-point road performance by drilling five first-half three-pointers inside IHS Gymnasium and six total in booking a game-best 18 points.
Classmate Hilda Garcia survived a vicious Macie Magallon elbow to her nose to finish with a team-high 12 in a 41-33 defeat. She scored another 12 against Telluride in a 64-17 blowout victory.
Senior Ellie Seibel posted 10 points against THS. Fellow seniors Miriam Fernandez-Lopez (eight points), Cortney Wilson-Baker (six), Chrystianne Valdez (five) and Gibran Silva (four) also cracked the scoring column after encountering far tougher resistance the night before.
Against NHS, Seibel managed 10 points, but Wilson-Baker was limited to two, Fernandez-Lopez to four (before fouling out with 3:18 left; Garcia then followed with 2:23 left), and Silva and Valdez each to zero as the Lady 'Cats were unable to fully wipe out a 27-15 halftime deficit but came as close as 30-29 in the final frame.
Now 15-4 overall, 11-1 in the 2A/1A San Juan Basin League, and the 2A-District 3 Tournament's top seed, Ignacio-ranked eighth in the final CHSAANow.com Class 2A poll (issued 2/15; NHS was #8 in Class 1A)-will next see action today at 4 p.m. at Montezuma-Cortez High School against 4-seed Ridgway (now 6-14), victorious over #5 THS (3-16) in the bracket's play-in game Tuesday evening.
At about 7 p.m. tonight, 2-seed Dolores (11-7 overall) will face #3 Mancos (9-9), with the contests' losers then scheduled to square off for third place at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow and the winners clashing at noon for the title.
STATISTICS, Feb. 19-Ignacio 33, at Norwood 41:
IHS (9-6-9-9)-H.Garcia 4 4-6 12, C.Valdez 0 0-0 0, M.Fernandez-Lopez 2 0-1 4, E.Seibel 5 0-3 10, A.Gomez 1 3-7 5, C.Wilson-Baker 1 0-0 2, G.Silva 0 0-2 0, A.Baker 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 7-19 33. 3-POINTERS: None. FOULED OUT: Fernandez-Lopez (3:18 left, Q4), Garcia (2:23 left, Q4).
NHS (15-12-3-11)-S.Ragsdale 2 3-4 7, C.Lemon 3 3-6 10, M.Sutherland 0 0-0 0, M.Magallon 7 5-8 21, C.Kennedy 1 0-0 2, A.Padgett 0 0-0 0, J.Baugh 0 0-0 0, N.Gonzalez 0 1-3 1, E.Terrell 0 0-0 0, Q.Shaw 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 12-21 41. 3-POINTERS: Lemon, Magallon 2. FOULED OUT: Kennedy (3:55 left, Q4).
