Bayfield’s Ryan Phelps and Monte Vista’s David Mascarenas put on a show in Alamosa.
Phelps started the Class 3A Intermountain League semifinal game on fire, Mascarenas heated up as the game went on, and the two powered their teams to a high-scoring affair that saw the Wolverines prevail 83-61 Thursday night at Alamosa High School.
“Any time you score 83 points, that’s a good offensive output,” BHS head coach Jeff Lehnus said. “We like to keep teams lower than 61 points on defense, though, so we need that strong defensive effort. ... It was nice to see a little more balance to the offense.”
The sixth-seeded Pirates (7-14) upset No. 3 Pagosa Springs 43-40 in the first round of the tournament Tuesday while the No. 2 Wolverines (13-7) received a bye into the semifinals.
Bayfield opened up an early lead behind the hot start from Phelps and maintained a comfortable cushion through the first half.
Phelps, a senior post for the Wolverines, scored 13 of the team’s first 17 points and had 22 points at halftime.
“The guys did a good job feeding him the ball,” Lehnus said of Phelps’ first half. “He had a pretty good all-around game; he made a 3 and got to the free-throw line and had a couple putbacks.”
The Wolverines held a 40-30 lead at halftime.
Bayfield extended its lead to 67-50 after the third quarter but couldn’t slow down Mascarenas, who finished with 30 points.
“He made quick touch 3s, and from way out there,” Lehnus said of Mascarenas. “He was on fire tonight. We don’t let one guy concern us too much, and I don’t like 30, but as long as you don’t let the other guys go crazy. We don’t want to give him 30 again.”
When the final buzzer sounded, four Wolverines had double-digit scoring. Phelps finished with 28 points, Dax Snooks had 13, Keyon Prior finished with 12 and Hayden Farmer added 10 points.
Turner Kennedy and Carl Heide chipped in nine and eight points, respectively, for the Wolverines.
Phelps also grabbed 18 rebounds and had five steals. Farmer snagged six boards and Prior grabbed four from his guard position.
Jarred Chavez was the only other Pirate in double figures with 12 points.
Bayfield will meet the league’s top-seed Alamosa (18-2) in the tournament final at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Alamosa High School. The Mean Moose rolled past fourth-seed Montezuma-Cortez 70-31 in the other semifinal Thursday.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
