Looking to deliver Ignacio its first San Juan Basin League loss since 2013, the Dolores High School had a chances to pull off an improbable victory. A win on its home court was not to be however, as Dolores (7-7 overall, 4-4 in the SJBL) missed 12 key free throws during a 54-43 loss to Ignacio (9-3 overall, 7-0 in the SJBL) on Feb. 2.
“The final score hurts, but it was a moral victory,” said Dolores head coach Larry Schwartz. “That’s as close as probably anybody in the league has been to Ignacio in years. I’m proud of my boys’ effort. We just didn’t make enough plays to beat a good team.”
Among the factors that contributed to the Bears’ loss was Ignacio’s ability to score momentum changing buckets at key times.
The first major momentum-shifting play occurred when Bobcats junior Johnny Valdez connected on a long three pointer from the right wing with three seconds left in the first half to put Ignacio ahead 24-14. The play occurred after a mishap by Bears’ junior Justin Purkat, whose ill-advised pass into the back court with eight seconds left in the half resulted in a Dolores turnover.
Momentum shifted again midway through the third quarter when Ignacio sophomore Lawrence Duffin-Valdez calmly drained a long three-pointer stymied a Dolores run and put his team ahead 32-21 seconds after Bears sophomore Dakota Smith scored a driving layup along the right baseline to cut Igancio’s lead nine.
Despite Ignacio’s ability to score at key times and do the little things necessary to win however, Bobcats’ head coach Chris Valdez was unhappy with his team’s effort after the final buzzer sounded.
“We played horrible,” the Ignacio coach said. “We turned the ball over 20-plus times against a very mediocre defense. We didn’t cut off the baseline on penetration and they out played us down low. We’re a better team than what we showed tonight and we’ve got to work on that.”
Leading the Bears in scoring was Smith, who controlled the paint on his way to 18 points. Dolores Tristan Swaggerty also enjoyed a big game down low, scoring 12 points and pulling down numerous rebounds.
Time and time again, the Dolores big men were able to bull their way through Ignacio’s undersized post players for easy layups. After the game, Schwartz commended his big men on their effort.
“(Smith) and (Swaggerty) play that high low really well,” Schwartz said. “When they pass the ball back and forth, it’s great. I thought we had a good mismatch inside and we took advantage of it when we could.”
Missed free throws ultimately doomed Dolores however, as the Bears missed 12 of their 26 attempts from the line, including five misses in the fourth quarter.
“We missed 12 free throws and we lost by 12,” Swaggerty said. “We need to capitalize on our free throws.”
Leading scorers for Ignacio included Valdez, who scored 15 points on five three-pointers, and freshman Ocean Hunter, who scored 12 points.
Next up for Ignacio will be a road matchup against Norwood on Feb. 4. Dolores’ next game will take place at home against Nucla on Feb. 4.