A Titanic comeback attempt came up a little short for Crested Butte, as the Ignacio High School boys basketball team held on for a state tournament win at home Tuesday night.
The No. 10 Ignacio Bobcats led 40-26 going to the fourth quarter of the CHSAA Class 2A Boys Basketball State Tournament opening-round game Tuesday inside the IHS Bobcats Gymnasium.
Big-time shots from Erik Wasinger and Alan Prieto Zubia got No. 23 Crested Butte close multiple times in the fourth quarter, including 52-48 with 25 seconds to play.
But Brady McCaw and Joe Garcia combined to make 2-of-4 free throws in the game’s final moments, and a deep Wasinger 3-pointer at the buzzer wouldn’t be enough for Crested Butte, as Ignacio (13-2) held on to secure a 54-51 win.
“I think we missed 10 of 12 free throws in that fourth quarter,” IHS head coach Chris Valdez said. “But this was a nice win. We had issues all night with Bryce Finn in foul trouble and what not, but the guys found ways to pick up the slack and come through and win the game.”
Joe Garcia hit three 3-pointers in the first half for IHS with Finn largely on the bench with three first-half fouls. He finished with 11 points after he scored 10 in the first half.
“We just wanted it more, wanted it so bad,” Garcia said. “We wanted to go have another chance at Sanford, so we came out hot and were just doing our jobs. Even though Bryce went out early, we didn’t get down about it; we had no second thoughts. We just did our thing as a team.”
Brady McCaw showed his usual playoff form with 15 points for IHS with nine in the first half. Gabe Tucson added 14 points, and Finn scored 12, as he hit a 3-pointer to open the third quarter and another shortly after.
Valdez credited the defense of senior guard Jawadin Corona, who entered the game to play strong defense on Wasinger in the third quarter. That helped IHS hold a steady lead.
Wasinger would hit three 3s late when Corona had checked out of the game. Prieto Zubia finished with a game-high 20 points, and Wasinger added 19 to provide most of the Titans’ scoring.
Ignacio, champion of the San Juan Basin League, will travel for the Sweet 16 to play No. 7 Sanford (9-4) on Thursday night. Ignacio fell 53-48 to Sanford in the same building on the opening day of the season. The two teams were scheduled to meet in the consolation round of the state tournament a year ago after both lost in the Great 8, but the season was suddenly canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 CHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournaments Class 2A“Sanford is the best program in the history of the state, winning 75 games in a row at one point,” Valdez said. “They have the best coach (Rhett Larsen) in 3A, 2A, 1A, any level, period. Nobody can match him and the way he does things. I’ve never beat him.
“We had never had to play them until state, losing two final fours, a regional championship and, of course, losing to him to start this year. We are going to go over there and try to get a win. I know we are capable of it.”
With plenty of athletes and upperclassmen leadership, Valdez believes this team can finally get over that hurdle.
“Our guys, this group, they’re going to fight until the end,” he said. “If they lose, it will be fighting until the end with every effort they have. That’s how we’ve coached them the whole time, and it is who they are.”
Down six players to COVID-19 quarantine, the Mancos Bluejays (13-2), seeded one place ahead of IHS despite finishing with matching records and after losing twice to Ignacio in the regular season, had to fight for their playoff lives Tuesday night.
Custer County (6-9) took the depleted Bluejays into double overtime, but Mancos had just enough energy in the tank to secure a 74-67 victory.
Mancos played with only one substitute all night because of missing players. But the Mancos boys were happy to play at all after the girls team had to forfeit its place in the state tournament because of a team-wide quarantine stemming from close contact with another student who tested positive for COVID-19.
The Mancos boys will hope to get some players back ahead of Thursday night’s Sweet 16 game at No. 8 Sedgwick County (10-4).
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
