Opening the Class 2A District Tournament Friday against Ignacio High School, the Mancos High School girls basketball team kept things competitive for three quarters before losing 44-22 to the top-seeded team.
Highlighting the Lady Jays’ effort was an impressive defensive effort in the opening quarter, which ended with the high-powered Bobcats struggling to find open shots and leading 5-4.
“We just locked them down defensively so they couldn’t score as much,” Mancos junior Madi Hale said. “We just need to focus on going back to the other end and scoring. We had trouble putting the ball in the basket.”
While Mancos shooters struggled, Ignacio’s man-to-man defense forces turnovers plagued the Lady Jays throughout the game at Montezuma-Cortez High School.
An especially difficult stretch for the Lady Jays came early in the second quarter when a spate of miscues by Mancos on offense allowed Ignacio to open the quarter on a 16-1 run and seize a 21-5 lead.
“Their defense was pretty tough, it was pretty lockdown,” Hale said.
Down 16 points and on the brink of a blow-out, Mancos head coach Kerri Morgan signaled timeout with three minutes left in the second quarter to settle her team.
Mancos players responded by closing the half on an 8-0 run highlighted by 3-pointers by Hale and senior Isis Jaime and a 3-point play by Rhiley Morgan that brought the crowd to its feet.
As the second half got underway with Ignacio leading 30-19, the Bobcats began to take control, as players consistently attacked the rim and upped their physicality on the offensive boards.
Among the catalysts for what turned out to be a big Ignacio second half were senior Larissa Gallegos, who pulled down numerous rebounds and scored a game-high 12 points, and junior Charlize Valdez, who netted five of her nine total points in the second half.
Ignacio led 30-17 at the end of the third quarter before piling on the Bluejays throughout the fourth quarter on their way to what turned out to be a 22-point win.
Jaime and Hale led Mancos with seven points each. Morgan scored four, and junior Tia Imel scored three.
The loss put Mancos into a consolation game with Dolores.
Winning 43-26, Mancos now will head to the Region 6 tournament against No. 6 seed Del Norte. The 27th ranked Lady Jays will tip off at 3 p.m. The regional championship is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.
“The approach is to go in and play lockdown defense like we did tonight,” Hale said. “We need to play our offense a little better and score a lot more.”