IGNACIO – Carrying a giant target hasn’t slowed down the Ignacio High School boys basketball team.
The CHSAANow.com Class 2A No. 1 team held off Bayfield High School 82-53 in the Pine River Rivalry on Tuesday night in Ignacio.
IHS (13-0) led by four at the end of the first quarter and pushed its lead to 14 by halftime.
“When you’re ranked No. 1, you’re going to get everyone’s best 16 minutes,” IHS head coach Chris Valdez said. “The first half is going to be everything they’ve got to stay in the game.”
The Bobcats’ shooting proved to be too much, however.
They got open for 3-pointers using screens that the Wolverines (8-8) didn’t defend well.
The Bobcats made 10-of-23 shots from behind the arc in the game for a 43-percent clip.
“They started running some screens that we normally are supposed to defend one way, and we defended in a way that opened up some 3-point shooters,” BHS head coach Randy Stephens said. “They took advantage of those opportunities, and all of a sudden a close game was not so close.”
IHS also came storming out of halftime to the tune of a 12-2 run.
Wyatt Hayes hit an acrobatic up-and-under layup and a 3-pointer during that stretch.
“It was big because the first half we played slow and not up to our potential,” said Hayes, son of Cindy and Tim Hayes. “In the second half, we turned it around.”
Hayes tied for the IHS points lead with 17. Clayton Jefferson also scored 17 points and made eight steals.
Adison Jones just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. He also played key defense on the Wolverines’ leading scorer for the season, Preston Hardy.
Hardy scored four points on 2-of-13 shooting.
“We’ve been playing (Amateur Athletic Union) together for a really long time, and I just know what he’s going to do,” said Jones, son of Greg Jones and Latisha Taylor. “I’m used to playing him, so I just shut him down.”
The Bobcats scored 27 points in the third quarter to give themselves an ample cushion and give bench players some time.
Anthony Manzanares led the Bobcats’ bench with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including two 3-pointers.
“The kid is a fantastic player,” Valdez said. “His quickness and his shooting ability helped.”
IHS played for the first time in two weeks Tuesday and will be feeling the effects of the shift in schedule.
The Bobcats have three games in three consecutive days later this week, starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday when Ouray will visit IHS.
“It’s one extreme to the other,” Valdez said.
BHS, on the other hand, will shift its focus from one rivalry game to the next: The Wolverines will host Pagosa Springs at 7 p.m. Friday, having played their last road game of the season Tuesday.
The last time those teams met it went to quadruple overtime.
“These last three conference games at home are critical,” Stephens said. “We need to step up and get at least two out of three if not all three of them.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
