Holding Ignacio sophomore Morgan Herrera to just three first-half field goals Tuesday night impressed Pagosa Springs head coach Wes Lewis.
But by also not allowing IHS senior gunner Avionne Gomez a single make from anywhere on the floor for the contest's first 19 minutes, Lewis knew his team had really accomplished something. When Gomez finally sank a two-pointer with five minutes left in the third quarter, the visiting Pirates had already increased a 28-13 halftime lead to 35-16.
Making life a whole lot easier for the guests, Gomez then picked up her fourth foul just 45 seconds later as the Bobcats trailed 42-24 at quarter's end. The game ended 56-30 in a hard-fought, physical clash between two 15-win teams inside IHS Gymnasiumn as the 2A Bobcats took on one of the 3A's top teams.
"They're two really great players," Lewis stated. "Herrera...she's a hell of a post player. We were trying to double off anybody other than Avionne, to go get some help in the post."
"Pagosa's a great team and what I counted on was that they're all healthy and they all run their system really well," said IHS head coach Trae Seibel. "So it's a good wake-up call for us this late in the season."
"This is why we scheduled them, to show us where we're at," Seibel added. "I don't like 'cruising' through seasons; I like us having good competition. And us having to play 'down,' and play 'up,' having to go through the emotions and the waves. Right now, it's a good game for us."
Coming in off a 62-9 destruction of 2A/1A San Juan Basin League foe Ridgway three days before, Ignacio (15-2, 11-0 SJBL) fell behind early, after PSHS junior guard Devin Wilson drained an opening three-pointer. Senior center/forward Morgan Lewis soon followed with her first basket, and despite Herrera getting the home team to eventually cut the deficit to 5-3, the 'Cats would get no closer.
Wilson's next trey put Pagosa Springs up 14-3 with 2:45 still left in the first quarter. A late basket by senior Ada Peshlakai made the margin 16-3 after the initial eight minutes. IHS struggled to get much going after back-to-back Herrera buckets brought Ignacio back to 19-11 with 4:12 remaining before halftime.
Wes Lewis quickly took a timeout and the #4-ranked [CHSAANow.com Class 3A poll, 2/12] Lady Pirates (16-3, 9-1 IML) responded with a 9-2 run, keyed by a Stretton three-pointer, to go into the locker room up 28-13. Pagosa was coming off a 46-35 road loss three days before at Centauri, costing them the outright lead in the 3A Intermountain.
"We had too many turnovers in the first half and that's what hurt us the other night at Centauri," Lewis said. "So the second half was a lot better with the turnover count. Ignacio played a lot of man tonight - Centauri mostly plays zone - so it was kind of a different nature, but it was a good bounce-back game for us against a good team, and we're glad to get the win."
Steady at both ends of the court all game, Wilson led all players with her 19 points, and Morgan Lewis finished with 14 (eight in the third quarter) before fouling out with 3:50 left in the game.
Despite playing with a heavily-wrapped right shoulder and not starting, Herrera totaled 11 points for IHS and senior Allisianna Baker scrapped for six. Gomez booked just five and freshman Charlize Valdez four before fouling out with 5:46 left.
"These girls need that kind of competition," Seibel said. "You have to step up and battle. Allie B. held her own, Morgan (Herrera) held her own, and Larissa (Gallegos) held her own underneath. It's just they were better tonight."
"Win or lose, we learn so much from this, on what we have to work on to tackle this 2A classification."
Up next, Ignacio will host Ouray (10-8, 8-2 SJBL) on Saturday, Feb. 17, to conclude Snowcoming Week at IHS as well as regular-season play. Tipoff against the 1A Trojans is scheduled for 2 p.m.
