Before its home game against Ignacio on Jan. 15, the Mancos High School boys basketball team had not beaten Ignacio since 2002. Bluejays junior Caden Showalter was a year old at the time, and freshman Connor Showalter had not been born.
Therefore, when the Showalter brothers combined for more than half their team’s points during a 59-48 victory on Tuesday, the duo could not help but smile when asked about the significance of the team’s victory.
“It’s extra-special because we’ve lost the last 27 games against Ignacio,” Caden Showalter said. “It’s a good confidence booster to start 2019.”
“It’s another win, but it feels extra-special because Ignacio is the reigning (San Juan Basin) league champ,” Connor Showalter added. “It’s a big deal.”
Mancos began the game in a 1-3-1 zone defense that featured 6-fot-5 senior Vassar Stephens at the top of the three-point circle and Connor Showalter and Hunter Hoover flanking him.
Unaccustomed to dealing with such tall defenders on the perimeter, Ignacio’s offense struggled throughout the first half, and Mancos led 33-21. The second quarter proved to be especially difficult for the Bobcats, who scored just six points.
“We have a lot size, that’s one of our big strengths,” Mancos head coach Elijah Knepper said. “If you send a 2-3 defense or even if you play (man-to-man), that doesn’t utilize that size that we have. When we’re in that 1-3-1, we really get to use our length and bother teams with that. It’s not a defense that a lot of teams play.”
While the Mancos defense stymied Ignacio throughout the first half, the Bluejays offense sought to establish Caden Showalter and Hoover on the low blocks with a motion offense that included a player at the high post and a player on the low block.
The two-post approach yielded results almost immediately as Caden Showalter converted an old-fashioned three-point play to put his team ahead 3-0. Later in the quarter, Connor Showalter drained two 3-pointers after Ignacio defenders collapsed into the middle.
“It’s important to get our big guys post touches,” Knepper said. “I think Caden is one of the best big men in the area, so as many times as we can get him touches on the block, that’s what we’re going to do.”
In spite of their first-half success, Mancos was by no means content to rest on its laurels, and began the second half with a 1-2-2 zone. Clearly prepared to attack a 1-3-1 alignment, Ignacio scored just nine points in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Hoover made a significant impact on the offensive end as the senior got many of his team-high 11 rebounds and scored two points. Connor Showalter also enjoyed a solid quarter as he attacked the basket and scored seven points.
“We knew (Ignacio head coach Chris Valdez) was going to make adjustments, but we thought we should probably make some adjustments too,” Knepper said. “We have an immense amount of respect for Ignacio, coach Valdez and their program. We knew if we just ran the same thing over and over again, it might work, but it probably wouldn’t.”
Although Ignacio began the fourth quarter on a 12-4 run to cut the Bluejays lead to 51-42, the final result was never in doubt, thanks in part to Mancos point-guard Christian Cova, who scored four points down the stretch.
Stephens also helped energize his team when he knifed along the left baseline and threw down a powerful one-handed slam that brought the crowd to its feet.
Connor Showalter scored 17 points, Caden Showalter scored 14, Stephens scored 11, and Cova contributed eight for the Bluejays. Caden Showalter had eight rebounds, and Cova had five steals.
“This win is great, but it can’t define our season,” said Knepper. “We have to make sure as we move forward, our square focus ... is on getting better tomorrow in practice. It’s great that we beat Ignacio, but our goals are much bigger.”
Now 6-4 overall and 3-0 in the SJBL, Mancos prepares for home games against Ouray on Jan. 18 and Ridgway on Jan. 19.
