IHS girls down Del Norte away, 37-31
Losing their first game this winter inside IHS Gymnasium? The Lady Bobcats didn’t dwell on it, nor did they take it lightly.
More than ready to make amends, Ignacio’s girls followed up a 52-44 loss Friday evening, Dec. 8, to visiting 2A Sanford with a 37-31 win at 2A Del Norte the next afternoon. Full statistics had not been tabulated and reported as of press time, but the defeated Lady Tigers had been the third-highest ‘Others Receiving Votes’ in the CHSAANow.com Class 2A Coaches’ Preseason Poll, and had held Ellicott – the preseason No. 10 in Class 3A – to just eight points in a 30-point blowout on the 2nd before losing by eight at Buena Vista (3A’s third-highest ORV team) five days later.
Not a bad way at all to bounce back.
DNHS fell to 1-3 overall; IHS improved to 2-3 prior to hosting 2A Mancos on December 14th, then traveling east to face 2A Sargent the next afternoon. Still yet to begin 2A/1A San Juan Basin play, MHS – which started the season going 3-0 at Meeker’s White River Electric Association Cowboy Shootout – stood 4-1 overall (after a 1-1 showing in Fairplay at South Park’s 12/8-9 Burro Classic) as of press time.
Sargent, meanwhile, started the season going 2-1 at Sangre de Cristo’s Thunderbird Shoot-Out, losing only to the hosting rival. The Lady Farmers then hosted Sangre on the 9th but again lost, the 55-39 margin mirroring their 43-28 tourney defeat.
Against Sanford (2-0, 0-0 SPL), Ignacio got 12 points each from seniors Solymar Cosio and Darlyn Mendoza-Lechuga, plus seven each from senior Maci Barnes and junior Marissa Olguin – who actually drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer from in front of the Lady Bobcats’ bench to end the game.
Sophomore Alyssa Atencio logged four points and junior DaLaney Wesner two in what was a come-from-behind effort almost since the Lady ’Cats lost an early 3-0 lead, having blanked SHS for the first 4:10 of the contest. The Lady Mustangs went into the second stanza leading 12-7, and widened the gap to 27-14 at halftime after freshman Claire Crowther sank two technical-foul free throws – in response to two awarded to, and made by Olguin at the other end – with 0:03.4 left on the scoreboard clock.
Cosio then picked up her fourth personal foul with 7:21 left in the third quarter, and the Lady Mustangs proceeded to swell their lead to 42-18 before Barnes cashed a three-pointer with 1:39 left. Still, Ignacio began the fourth quarter trailing 43-24, and when Barnes fouled out with 4:32 remaining in regulation, IHS was still well behind. Cosio converted a blue-collar three-point play with 2:26 to go, but with Sanford still up 48-35 the hill proved too steep to summit.
Crowther finished with a game-high 15 points, juniors Shasta Bond and Erica Miller each netted nine, and junior Brooklynn Reynolds – who recorded Sanford’s very first basket – ended up with eight.
“You come to Ignacio, this place … they’ve got great basketball history, they’ve got great coaches, great fans; it’s hard to come here and win,” said SHS head coach Keith Caldon. “We come out and try to let our defense do as much to keep us in all games. I felt like tonight it relaxed a little bit at times – and was good at times – but … the girls are buying in. We’ve got a long way to go still.”