IHS boys unable to sneak into playoffs
Even when Ignacio head coach Trae Seibel and Monte Vista counterpart Jaime Hurtado seemingly agreed to empty their respective benches for basically the last two minutes Thursday night, Feb. 26, the game still appeared far from over.
That is, the Bobcat and Pirate reserves did their best to not let the gymnasium’s energy dissipate even after a razzle-dazzle, 180-degree, two-handed reverse dunk by Monte Vista senior guard/forward Azariah ‘Raz’ Hurtado increased the home team’s lead to a secure 56-34.
But during the final 1:57, the visitors’ substitutes – including senior Zaine Velasquez-Hight and sophomore Evan Maez – actually outscored MVHS’ 7 to 4, cutting MVHS’ overall second-half advantage down to just 28-27. And though the scoreboard showed the Pirates still up 60-41 as the final buzzer sounded, the teams’ starting fives actually played to an overlooked 31-31 draw.
The difference was the second quarter.
After striking first via a basket by senior center/forward Trace Crane and later regaining a 5-4 lead – the Bobcats’ last, as it turned out – via senior guard Stoney White Thunder-Lucero’s three-pointer with 2:06 left in the first frame, Ignacio got a free, well-earned breather when Monte Vista boss Hurtado called timeout.
Pirate sophomore forward/center Landon Sanchez, however, promptly canned a corner three and senior guard/forward Domyon Naranjo closed out the quarter with a pair of free throws, giving MVHS a 9-5 edge through eight tense minutes on Senior/Parent Appreciation Night. Sanchez and Hurtado then combined to start the second stanza sinking three of four FTs before IHS senior guard Sonny Flores hit one of two with 6:07 left until halftime.
Flores, however, then picked up his third personal foul with 5:30 left and senior forward Rance Rathjen did likewise only six seconds later, infuriating Bobcat backers in the building and pressing Seibel to go deeper into his bench much earlier than he’d have liked. And after Sanchez hit one of two FTs, senior guard Kelby Mondragon followed with a take to the hoop increasing Monte Vista’s lead to 16-6.
And as one hoop’s diameter seemed to shrink whenever the ’Cats took aim, the other’s seemed to widen; a corner trey by junior reserve guard Connor Mellott punctuated a game-breaking 14-5 stretch and inflated the Pirates’ pad to 30-11. And as the quarter expired, junior backup forward Jeremiah McComas stole junior guard Thunder Windy Boy’s high-bouncing dribble near midcourt and hurried it to the opposite end for a buzzer-beating layup giving MVHS an imposing 32-14 lead at intermission.
A Mondragon deuce plus two Hurtado FTs then offset a Crane basket beginning the third quarter, but the Bobcats responded by outscoring the Pirates 9-3 to cut the deficit down to 39-25, after sophomore guard Joseph Atencio’s corner three with 2:21 to go. Monte Vista, however, countered with an 8-0 burst capped by another McComas close-range buzzer-beater – the end product of an inbounds pass from the baseline after Crane was called for his fourth personal foul with 0:01.8 left on the clock.
Trailing 47-25 entering the fourth quarter, despite three consecutive, aggressive Windy Boy takes to the rim, the ’Cats then closed out the contest winning the frame 16-13. Crane contributed five points, including a three-pointer for what may have been his last prep-level basket; after Flores fouled out with 4:07 left in regulation, Crane did likewise with 3:22 remaining.
Hurtado – honored before the game for passing the 1,000-point mark for his MVHS career – then converted a Mondragon steal and outlet pass into the aforementioned jam, upping his count to a game-high 14 points. Sanchez (8-12 FT) ended up with 11, Mondragon and junior forward John Jake Naranjo eight apiece and McComas seven, but starters Domyon Naranjo, junior guard Kobe Jiron and sophomore guard/forward Manny Jiron were held to a combined nine.
Crane (2-4 FT) totaled 13 points in defeat and Windy Boy (2-4 FT) ten. Atencio totaled two treys and six points, but regulars Flores, White Thunder-Lucero and Rathjen managed a combined eight. Velasquez-Hight chipped in two points and Maez the game’s very last two.
AFTERMATH
While Monte Vista (12-10 overall, 5-7 IML) stayed a virtual lock for inclusion in the upcoming Class 3A State Tournament’s opening Round-of-32, having begun the game as the No. 26 team in CHSAA’s Selection & Seeding Index, No. 36 Ignacio (9-13, 2-10) was on the bubble but did not receive enough help during the next two days’ games statewide to rise higher and ended up 35th.
Bumped up to 25th in the final Index but seeded 24th in the bracket, MVHS will next face 9-seed Wiggins (16-7 overall, 5-5 Patriot) at 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, up in Carbondale. Hosting the four-team Region VIII tourney, 8-seed Roaring Fork (20-3, 12-0 Western Slope) will then battle 25-seed Brush (11-12, 5-7 Patriot) at 7:30, with the games’ winners to then square off the next afternoon at 12:30 p.m.