"Have fun with Ignacio!"
That was the advice from Mancos basketball fans to Telluride supporters after the first day of the 2A District 3 basketball tournament at Montezuma-Cortez High School.
After Tellurde defeated Mancos 53-48, Telluride Coach Stefan Reiter couldn't help but beam after qualifying for regionals.
"You want to hear something funny?" he asked. "I just taught them that defense today. Only had time to practice it in our run-through.and it worked!"
Frustrated Mancos Blue Jays fans found a little solace in the fact that THS and their 1-3-1 scheme would be put to the ultimate test the next afternoon.
With a 28-point fourth-quarter explosion, IHS finished what the previous evening's confident 18-point first quarter against Ridgeway had started. The boys left the 2A/1A San Juan Basin League tourney with a 60-41 win over RHS and a more impressive 60-27 trouncing of THS.
Senior guards Anthony Manzanares and Wyatt Hayes combined for 37 points (Manzanares 19, Hayes 18) in the 19-point defeat of the Ridgway Demons. They also scored seven of Ignacio's destructive 11 three-pointers as the Bobcats' lead grew from 18-11 after one frame, to 31-20 through two and an insurmountable 49-29 beginning the fourth.
Senior center Nick Herrera scored seven points and junior reserve guard Joaquin King six as only seven 'Cats scratched the scoring column. However only five Demons did so, led by senior Hasten Beamer's 15 and classmate Eli Hagemeyer's 12. IHS' bench outscored Ridgway's by a 16-0 margin.
Ignacio went 7-of-8 at the free-throw line as well, while RHS was a woeful 1-of-11.
Telluride was a much better 7-of-10 in the district title game, but with the 'Cats 12-of-15, the Miners' task was made all the more arduous after single-digit scoring in quarters one, two and three - by the ends of which IHS had built up leads of 11-5, 21-10 and 32-14.
To Telluride's credit, their defense held Herrera to just two points, but Ignacio's big guy had help from senior Austin McCaw (seven points) and sophomore Kai Roubideaux (two).
Hayes netted 12, but while Manzanares scored just five, senior Tucker Ward, despite lacking a gear due to an ailing knee, blew up for a game-high 15 points after a rare scoreless showing versus RHS. Senior reserve Chase Sanchez dropped a late nine, helped by two triples.
Miner standout junior forward Andrew Denny scored only seven points, and senior guard Zak Hild six.
Seeded second in 2A-Region I, the Bobcats (now 19-2 overall) will begin the event against a familiar opponent-Mancos-at 6 p.m. Friday, March 4, inside Adams State University's Plachy Hall. The 7-seed Jays (9-12) edged the Demons (11-11) 60-56 for third place in D-3. The winner will then face either #3 Center or #6 Sargent at noon Saturday for the right to go to Pueblo and the 2A state championships.
Representing the Southern Peaks League, CHS (18-4; District 1 runners-up) and SHS (11-11; fourth place, D-1) will strive to survive another day on March 4 at Monte Vista High School.
GET A GOOD LOOK: With two state berths at stake in Region I, the bracket's other side will be worth watching, with 1-seed Sanford (22-0) getting underway at 2 p.m. March 4 inside Plachy versus #8 Crested Butte Community School (8-12).
The winner will then meet either #4 Del Norte (11-11) or #5 Telluride (9-12) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Sanford has gone 68 straight games and the last two state championships since a Jan. 11, 2014, non-league loss at 3A Alamosa.
