PUEBLO
Two radically different Ignacio High School boys basketball careers ended the same way Saturday.
Seniors Adison Jones and Xavier Reynolds helped the Bobcats finish in third for the second consecutive state tournament by beating Simla 69-52.
Jones scored 11 points, ending a four-year varsity run that saw him put up more than 1,000 points for IHS.
“He’s a tough player. He’s an all-state player. We’re losing the rebounds, 10 rebounds a game, 18 points a game and the biggest thing we’re losing is we’re going to have to figure out how to rebound the ball next year,” IHS head coach Chris Valdez said.
Valdez has called Jones the “best rebounder in the state” for his size during his career.
Jones averaged nearly eight rebounds a game in his career playing in the front-court, typically against power forwards and centers larger than him.
He expects to play college basketball next year but isn’t sure where.
“I’m planning for college basketball,” said Jones, son of Greg Jones and Latisha Taylor.
Reynolds, on the other hand, wrapped up his organized basketball career Saturday.
A career role player for the Bobcats, Reynolds averaged 2.7 points per game in his two varsity seasons and scored a career-high 13 on Dec. 13, 2014 against Hayden in a tournament in Alamosa.
“Having to come off the bench cold a lot and making plays, getting on the ground and fighting for rebounds, that’s his job,” Valdez said of Reynolds. “That’s his role, and he took it to heart.”
Reynolds saw the floor fairly often during Ignacio’s postseason run in 2015, when the Bobcats ran into foul trouble.
He was the first player off the bench in Friday’s semifinal and Saturday’s third-place game, when Tucker Ward picked up two quick fouls.
“It’s a different atmosphere, but I got out there and was able to get in the groove,” said Reynolds, son of Tamera and Walter Reynolds.
He plans to study game design in college, maybe at Full Sail University in Florida, once he graduates from IHS.
Reynolds isn’t leaving his sneakers and shooting touch completely behind, though.
“I don’t plan to play in college, but I’ll still play the game in rec centers,” he said.
The one thing both Bobcats brought to Ignacio’s program was a commitment. They each played four years for Valdez.
“They bring longevity – they’re kids who stuck with it for four years. A lot of kids don’t now,” Valdez said. “They understood what we did, and they’re what holds our program together.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
