Ignacio High School’s boys basketball team lost eight players from last year’s team that went 20-6, claimed a 10th league title in the last 11 years and finished sixth in the Class 2A state tournament. Head coach Chris Valdez won’t lower the team’s expectations for the 2018-19 season.
The veteran head coach decided to come back for another season on the Bobcats’ bench. Valdez has only one senior who has played varsity basketball along with a few key juniors. He will turn to sophomores and freshmen to elevate their game in an effort to remain the class of the San Juan Basin League.
“We really don’t replace all-state players and great players like we lost,” Valdez said. “We kind of reload and see what we can do to try to compete after losing those dominant players. We put people where they go, and now it’s time to see what they do.
“I don’t believe in rebuilds. I put the guys on the floor, I expect to win right now. Do we have the talent to win right now? Probably not, but I look at my guys and push them to win and push them to be the best player they can be right now. Hopefully, they can add to that and be competitive down the stretch. I don’t like the word ‘rebuilding.’ I like reloading. Our seniors, they don’t have a chance to wait until next year.”
Ignacio lost its four leading scorers from last year. Junior Ocean Hunter is the team’s top returner, as he scored 7.1 points per game last year to go with averages of 6.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals. He is an undersized forward but is a savvy rebounder. Offensively, he also has the ability to shoot from outside.
“We’re gonna put some on him to really help us scoring and, of course, rebounding,” Valdez said. “You can’t guard him just inside or outside because he can do either.”
Valdez said much of the leadership roles will go down to sophomores Brady McCaw and Bryce Finn, a pair of talented up-and-coming guards.
“McCaw is running the point for us, and he has a lot of responsibility there,” Valdez said.
“Finn is another kid who worked hard all summer and has become a pretty good ball player. They’ve seen a lot of the things we did last year.”
Valdez said he has cut back on some of his offensive sets to simplify the game a bit for his younger players. Finn saw time in 23 games last year, but McCaw played in only five varsity games. Another sophomore with varsity experience is Dylan Labarthe, who played in 19 games and showed his ability to score and rebound in limited minutes. Valdez also will rely on junior Keegan Schurman.
“Those guys came around talent-wise and started seeing floor time enough to go to the state tournament with us,” Valdez said. “It will help them having seen it all before, but they watched most of the time last year and gotta get to it running this year.”
While Ignacio has been the leading force in league play over the last decade, Mancos now is the favorite. Ignacio came in 12th in the preseason rankings, while Mancos received enough votes to come in 14th. Still, many around the state see the Bluejays as the team to win the league this season with a pair of dominant forwards in 6-foot-5 Caden Showalater, who averaged 15.8 points and 13.6 rebounds per game last year, as well as 6-foot-7 senior transfer Vassar Stephens.
Ignacio’s players want to prove they are still the team to beat.
“They want it bad,” Valdez said. “Mancos, not only do they have pretty much everybody back from last year, they got the kid from Phoenix, and he’s huge. He can shoot outside, attack the basket – he’s a full player and better than the big guy they already had.
“The kids we have, we think we can beat them. We scrimmaged them, and they beat us pretty good, but I could see the holes we had. Some of these guys are waiting around looking for last year’s guys to check in and win the game for them. Those guys from last year are gone, and it’s time for these guys to step up.
“I’m expecting big things from every player that steps on the floor for me, and if they don’t, I’ll go to the next guy to get it. I don’t like losing, and I don’t like people thinking that we can’t do it. It encourages me to work harder and push our kids harder.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
