Tristen Swagerty tried his best to ruin the home opener for Ignacio. It wasn’t enough.
The Dolores star scored 15 of his team’s 18 first-half points and finished with 25 of their 31 points. Ignacio’s strong press defense kept the rest of the Bears in check, as the Bobcats (2-0, 2-0 2A District 3)) cruised to a 61-31 win.
Johnny Valdez helped set the tone on the first play of the game, as he took a steal and went down the court for a layup. IHS went on to score 23 points in the first quarter behind three made 3-pointers from Clay Seibel off the bench.
Seibel led the Bobcats with 13 points. Kai Roubideaux had 10 points and eight rebounds. Kruz Pardo had an all-around game with eight assists and five steals.
“We came out ready to go,” IHS head coach Chris Valdez said. “It was hard to know where we’d be since it was only our second game. We came out aggressive in the press.”
Johnny Valdez added 11 points and six steals, as the Bobcats collected 24 steals as a team.
But it was the play of Swagerty for the Bears (3-3, 0-1) that head Coach Valdez scratching his head a bit.
“We didn’t do anything on him,” he said. “The next time we play them, we will have a better idea of what to do with him. They had three other kids score two a piece. If we shut (Swagerty) down, which we are capable of, we will try to make the rest of them beat us.”
IHS will compete in the Montezuma-Cortez tournament this weekend, beginning with a 5:30 p.m. Friday game against Grand County of Utah.
A fourth road game in six days took its tool on the Demons.
Led by a huge game from Steven Wyman and a scoring spark from Malik Liggins, the Durango High School boys basketball team secured its second consecutive win against Kirtland Central, 43-41.
DHS (6-1) led 21-17 after three quarters before mounting a 15-0 run. But the Broncos (4-5) chipped away and had the ball down two points for the game’s final possession. Kirtland Central took a 3-point shot, but it didn’t fall and the Demons held on to win.
“I could tell we were a bit tired,” DHS head coach Alan Batiste said. “I think we are 0-for-10 from 3 in the first half, just not making any shots.”
DHS led 14-13 at halftime before finding a big spark from Liggins, who had 12 points. Wyman dominated the boards with 16 rebounds, and he scored 13 points.
“He was a big presence down there, monster game,” Batiste said of Wyman.
DHS will look to build on its early-season success the next few weeks of practice before facing Pagosa Springs on Jan. 3.
Girls Basketball
Girls BasketballThe Bobcats held the Bears to only three made field goals en route to a big win in their home opener.
Ignacio High School’s girls basketball team (2-2, 1-0 2A District 3) smothered Dolores with defense, and the Bears (1-5, 0-1 2A District 3) made only 16-of-38 free throws.
Meanwhile, Ignacio was led by Avionne Gomez’s 10 points. Makayla Howell and Reyna Cruz added seven each.
A poor night shooting cost the Demons.
After shooting only 2-of-16 from behind the 3-point line and 12-of-28 from inside the arc, the Durango girls basketball team fell 43-37 to a good Farmington team from New Mexico.
“We had a tough time putting the ball in the hole,” DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. “We’ll get back at it (Wednesday) and be ready for Cortez on Thursday.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
