The Mancos High School girls basketball team was already enjoying a breakout season behind athletic play. But Tuesday night’s upset victory few could have seen coming.
Class 2A No. 10 Ignacio High School was stunned on its home floor by the Bluejays, which would be ranked No. 18 if the poll extended past the top 15. The Bobcats went down 20-8 at halftime and would get as close as 31-27 on one of Jayden Brunson’s four 3-pointers of the game, but Mancos would go back up 37-29 before closing out the 38-32 victory.
Mancos (8-3, 6-2 2A/1A San Juan Basin League) was strong in the rebounding department, and Ignacio (8-3, 5-1 SJBL) struggled to see shots fall. Brunson scored 13 points for IHS with nine in the second half.
Junior guard Rhiley Montoya led the Bluejays with a game-high 14 points, while freshman Madi Hale finished with 11 and Teya Yeomans, another freshman, had seven points.
Laci Brunson would score nine for Ignacio, while Shelcie Gosney was the team’s third-leading scorer with four points.
Mancos had a quick start to take a 4-0 lead and would hold an 8-3 advantage after one quarter. Montoya then hit a 3 to open the second quarter followed by another during a 14-0 Mancos run.
Hale, who had six of her points in the first quarter, was able to work around three first-half fouls to continue to be a factor in the second half.
It was a stunning result after Ignacio had already run through Mancos 48-25 on Feb. 16 in Mancos. It was the first time Mancos had even come within single digits of Ignacio since Valentine’s Day of 2014 and was the Bluejays’ first win against the Bobcats since it took two out of three games with Ignacio during the 2009-10 season.
IHS will close out the regular season at 5 p.m. Thursday at Dove Creek, which stands undefeated at 11-0 and 6-0 in the San Juan Basin League. Then, the Bobcats will find out their state playoff fate Monday when brackets are revealed.