Boys’ first two outings satisfactory overall
Despite trailing 5A Durango just 30-27 through two competitive quarters Friday night, Dec. 6, inside the DemonDome, Ignacio still needed something extra to truly put the home team’s feet to the fire and turn the early-season showdown into the battle expected by most.
It came in the form of the Bobcat with perhaps the freshest legs on the court.
“Didn’t see a minute in the first half,” recalled IHS head coach Trae Seibel, “and then I looked at him and he was ready to go! Angelo Frost, he came off the bench…and knocked ’em down. He went 100 percent today, didn’t miss a shot. Made, I think, two threes…really sparked our second-half run when we took the lead by two.”
With the senior draining both his treys during the third quarter, and totaling eight of his 12 points, Ignacio completed a comeback started early in the game, though DHS—seeing its first action of the 2024-25 season—would regain a slim 47-43 advantage before the fourth and final frame.
“It was a heck of a hole we climbed out of,” Seibel stated. “In that first half we were down 13 at one point, and the boys weathered the storm. It started with our defense; everyone locked up and we went on a heck of a run that third quarter.”
Durango, however, turned up their own defensive heat in the fourth, and with 5:34 remaining the ’Cats found themselves again down 13 points, 56-43. Back-to-back Frost baskets from close range trimmed the deficit down to 58-47 with 4:07 to go, and Seibel used a timeout to try revving his players up to make a final push.
Unfortunately, it failed to materialize; IHS went scoreless the rest of the way while the Demons increased their margin of victory only slightly to 62-47.
“We made too many turnovers in the fourth,” said Seibel, “and we can’t win big games with that many. But those are things we can fix. And it’s an honor to come play against the big boys from down the road; it shows us what we have to work on. Right now the team is…cohesive, and they’re playing with urgency and heart. The ball just didn’t fall our way in the fourth.”
“We didn’t really dictate the tempo of the game. Maybe in that first quarter we dictated it a little, but we kind of got complacent and comfortable on the offensive end—started settling for shots and stopped pushing in transition,” longtime Durango head coach Alan Batiste said.
“But credit Ignacio,” he continued. “I mean, Trae prepared those guys to play hard and they gave us a good punch in the mouth. We just needed to respond and do what we needed to do as a team.”
All told, 6’4” senior Noah Miles racked up a game-high 18 points for DHS (1-0, 0-0 5A/6A Southwestern), with senior Ethan White (12 points) and sophomore Kingston Kerlin (12) joining him in double digits. Senior Marcus Cullum came close with his eight points, and 6’6” senior Otto Aaland chipped in six.
“Call it an ugly win or call it a good win, or whatever else, but it’s the first game of our season and we’ve still got a lot of work to do,” said Batiste. “We’ve only focused on defense for seven weeks, so…offensively we knew we’d have to struggle. But overall, we’ll take it for a first win.”
For Ignacio (1-1, 0-0 3A/4A Intermountain), junior Ambrose Valdez went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line and ended up with a team-leading 15 points. D.J. Hendren, who fouled out with 52 ticks left, joined he and Frost in double digits by scoring ten points. Sophomore Cayson Burcham managed five points, junior Trace Crane three and junior Sonny Flores two.
“I think a lot of teams we play in the future will key on Ambrose; he’s a great scorer, and…really had some great plays throughout the whole game,” Seibel said. “But I’m proud of my team; they came to play tonight.”
The Bobcats’ early-season road swing will continue Friday and Saturday, December 13-14, at Center’s C-Town Showdown. Results from IHS’ 12/10 trip to 2A Mancos (0-3 overall) were unavailable at press time.
EXPLOSIVE OPENER: Beginning the new season on the third at 2A Dolores, Ignacio hit the hardwood running. And running and running even more en route to a thorough 71-23 win.
Valdez booked ten second-quarter points and ended up with a game-high 17. Junior Stoney White Thunder chipped in six second-quarter points and totaled ten, and Burcham followed up his successful football debut season with eight points. Flores booked seven points and Frost six, while Hendren, Crane, and senior Marquis Cibrian each chipped in four. Junior Rance Rathjen drained a fourth-quarter three-pointer for good measure.
The Bears (0-1 overall) got nine points—all after halftime—from sophomore Koby McClellan, and four points from both senior Trayton Traweek (2-9 FT) and junior Michael Rantz (2-8 FT).