Coming up with a halftime speech must have been either supremely easy or radically difficult for Ignacio head coach Shane Seibel against Telluride.
Ignacio High School led 43-6 after two quarters with more turnovers forced than shot attempts allowed.
The Bobcats forced 25 turnovers while holding the Miners to 1-of-15 shooting before halftime.
What is there to say?
“I told them do not back off your intensity. You deserve this after so many hours, the practice time. Continue to focus on what you do, and don’t get complacent with it,” he said. “You always want to work hard. You don’t want to feel sorry for them, and you want to respect them.”
The second half looked just as easy for the Bobcats, who cruised to a 63-20 win, their third victory in a row. They forced 35 turnovers overall.
IHS (7-3, 4-0 San Juan League) held Telluride (0-6, 0-3 SJL) without a field goal for the first 9 minutes, 44 seconds of the game. During that run, and throughout the rest of the game, IHS ran fast break after fast break and offensive set after offensive set almost to perfection.
“It’s the focus of the girls right now,” Seibel said. “They just want to go out and play for each other.”
Freshman Hilda Garcia led the Bobcats with 13 points and seven rebounds, while junior Ellie Seibel scored 12 points and had six rebounds.
Senior point guard Sky Cotton lived in the lane, dishing out five assists and scoring five points.
“It’s so much fun. As a point guard, you really want to execute the play,” said Cotton, daughter of Fred and Jennifer Cotton. “Sure, you want to score every now and then, but your ultimate goal is to run the play.”
The starters’ nights didn’t last long, though. None of them started the fourth quarter, but the game didn’t get easier for the Miners. Ignacio’s bench scored 24 points, which was more than Telluride managed overall.
“It’s so important. Most of us 2A schools don’t have (junior varsity) teams, so we’re giving them their opportunity to play,” said Ellie Seibel, daughter of Melanie and Shane Seibel.
Whitney Wells led Telluride with nine points, scoring seven of them from the free-throw line.
The Miners scored 11 of their 20 points from the line.
It’s the kind of defensive performance coach Seibel hopes his team can continue to deliver for the rest of the season, starting with a Friday trip to Dove Creek.
“This is huge for them. It’s a way for me to evaluate what I need to do as a coach to help them improve every day,” coach Seibel said.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
