IHS boys atone for loss at Mancos
Served a rotten third-quarter goose egg the night before, practically the difference in a hard-to-stomach 35-30 road loss at longtime – but now former – 2A San Juan Basin League rival Mancos, Ignacio’s boys took a virtual sledgehammer to its memory Friday night, Dec. 16, inside IHS Gymnasium.
Finding themselves leading 10-2 through one quarter, but suddenly tied at 16 after another sluggish second stanza (IHS had scored just three points in the second at MHS), the Bobcats broke free from 2A Sargent by winning the third quarter 17-6 and rode that momentum to a 41-27 victory.
Junior center/forward Gabe Cox blew up for ten third-quarter points and ended up totaling a game-high 14 as the ’Cats improved to 3-4 overall (0-0 3A/4A Intermountain) in their final outing before the lengthy holiday break.
Two of his third-quarter points came after he handed the ball innocently to a teammate well outside the top of the three-point arc, then stealthily curled around a backside screen – preventing two defenders, who collided, from pursuing – at the elbow towards an unguarded rim…to receive said teammate’s lob pass for a morale-boosting, two-handed alley-oop dunk.
Senior Dylan McCaw, Cox’s low post-mate who managed a team-leading eight points against the Blue Jays (Cox finished with six), nearly joined him in double figures by totaling nine against the Farmers.
Junior Devante Montoya recorded five points before fouling out, and senior guard Eppie Quintana – actually held without a field goal – went 4-of-5 from the free-throw line for his four points. Charlie Pargin, Phillip Quintana and Trajan Garcia rounded out the team’s scoring with three points each, Quintana’s and Garcia’s via singular three-pointers.
SHS (2-3, 0-0 2A/3A Southern Peaks), meanwhile, failed to connect even once from long range in defeat. Sophomore Lucas Garcia tallied a team-leading seven points and senior Burke Temple six before he fouled out in the fourth quarter. 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, senior A.J. Garcia also booked six points. Sophomore Fernando Venzor recorded four, junior Corbyn Wright chipped in two and junior Trenton Paskett two via his five FT attempts.
Against Mancos (3-4, 0-0 2A/1A SJBL), Eppie Quintana fought for six points while Montoya (who fouled out) and Phillip Quintana each scored five. Freshman Darren Daves and junior Brian Veach each registered a game-high nine points for the Jays, and junior Andrew Jaime logged eight before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Sophomore post Kaiden Wyatt scrapped for four points before fouling out in the third.