Coaches don’t normally talk about getting killed when they win by 25.
Ignacio High School’s boys basketball head coach, Chris Valdez, just had higher expectations of his team in its 62-37 season opening win over Bloomfield High School on Thursday in the Kirtland Tournament in Kirtland, N.M.
“We did okay; came out real sluggish,” Valdez said. “The thing that killed us tonight was our turnovers.
The Bobcats gave the ball away 20 times.
“That’s unacceptable if we’re going to be playing and competing,” Valdez said.
IHS did transition well, which led to balanced scoring.
Kelton Richmond and Wyatt Hayes led the Bobcats with 14 points each, while Clayton Jefferson and Adison Jones each had 11.
The Bobcats played without 6-5 Justin Carver, who is out through the remainder of the tournament.
Valdez also wasn’t pleased with the way his team defended.
“Man-to-man defense was very poor, and help defense was very poor,” he said. “We didn’t play the way I expected us to play. No one was excited by the way we played.”
IHS won’t have long to dwell on its performance.
The Bobcats play Shiprock at 5:30 p.m. Friday in their second game of the Kirtland Tournament.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
