The third time was not the charm for the Mancos Blue Jays.
Playing against the Ignacio Bobcats (21-1) in their third meeting this season, the Blue Jays’ (9-13) season came to an end in a 66-45 loss in the Class 2A Region 1 contest at Adams State University on Friday evening.
Mancos played Ignacio closer than they had in either of their previous meetings, but after leading by 10 at half, the Bobcats pulled away in the second half to win by 21.
Head coach Rodney Cox noted how his team had improved, citing statistics from previous matchups against Ignacio and saying, “We got beat. We didn’t lay down and die.”
The Bobcats made 11 3-pointers in the teams’ first meeting and 13 in the second, while Mancos had 16 turnovers against Ignacio in January and turned it over 21 times in their second contest.
On Friday, Mancos held the Bobcats to just two made 3-pointers, and they finished with 12 turnovers.
But coming out tense, the Blue Jays coughed it up five times in the first quarter.
“They were self-inflicted turnovers,” Cox said of his team’s early blunders. “They weren’t pressuring us into them, we were just making unwise passes. We just didn’t take care of the ball like we needed to, and you can’t do that against a team like that.”
Mancos didn’t have an abundance of turnovers, but when they did give the ball away, Ignacio used its speed to breakaway for scores, and the Bobcats led 17-9 after one.
The Blue Jays had their highest scoring output in the second quarter – 17 points – and midway through the quarter, Ignacio center Nicholas Herrera picked up his third foul and was sent to the bench.
The Jays took advantage of his absence and went on a run to pull within five with 1:45 remaining, but sloppy play in the final minutes allowed the Bobcats to push the lead back to 10 at half, 36-26.
Ignacio upped its pressure to start the third quarter, and the Bobcats extended their lead with an early 11-2 run.
“I thought about calling timeout, but I only had three left,” said Cox. “We just couldn’t score, and we’ve struggled with that all year.”
Mancos scored just 10 points in the third quarter to begin the fourth trailing 47-28, and the Jays got just nine points in the final frame as Ignacio pulled away with a 66-45 victory.
“We had trouble finding openings and seams, because their defense is pretty good on the perimeter,” explained Cox. “They can defend.”
Ro Paschal led the Blue Jays with 25 points, and Adrian Hernandez and Andrew Plunkett each finished with eight. Caleb Yoder and Giff Huver chipped in two points apiece.
After the loss, Cox noted how he was proud of his team and said that he noticed “huge” amounts of growth as the season progressed.
The Jays will return six varsity players next season, but Paschal, Hernandez, Plunkett, and Andrew Christensen will all graduate this spring.
“It was one of the most fun years I’ve ever had as a coach,” said Cox. “Just good kids, good atmosphere and good energy. But our four seniors, we’ll miss them. I’ve got a lot of respect for what they’ve done.”