For the second year in a row, the Bayfield High School boys basketball team is moving onto the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 3A Regional Tournament after taking down the Monte Vista Pirates 69-65 in the third-place game of the Intermountain League Tournament.
"I give a lot of credit to the Monte Vista seniors," Bayfield head coach Jeff Lehnus said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. "They battle hard; they weren't going to go down easily."
The Bayfield boys will play 11th-ranked Colorado Springs Christian on Friday. The Lions are 17-5 this year and 11-1 in league play.
The Ignacio High School boys and girls also won their district titles easily on Saturday and are heading to 2A regional action.
Ignacio boys will play Mancos at 4 p.m. Friday at Adams State University in Alamosa. The girls play Custer County at 10 a.m., also in Alamosa. The girls are ranked first in regional action, the boys are second behind Sanford. Regional championship games in both leagues are set for Saturday, March 5.
Details of Saturday's district games are below, courtesy of John Mentzer of the Durango Herald.
BHS boys vs. Monte Vista
With 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Pirates cut the Wolverines' lead to three at 64-61.
"It's about getting the job done enough to move on," Lehnus said. "We had a good inside and outside balance on offense. They had to do what they had to do to get the job done."
Taed Heydinger had a great bounce-back game with 19 points to lead Bayfield. He was limited to only two points Thursday in the semifinals against Pagosa Springs.
BHS sophomore Ryan Phelps had a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds. Brian Mashak came off the bench and was a jolt of offense with nine points.
Senior Zane Phelps finished the game with four points despite playing with a slightly injured left ankle he sustained earlier in the week during practice.
"(Zane's) been doing a good job playing through (the injury)," Lehnus said.
Presley Garcia led the Pirates with 25 points.
Bayfield won the rebounding battle 35-29 and forced 12 steals. The Wolverines also hit 19-of-29 free throws. One downside of Bayfield's offense was turning the ball over 17 times.
"I'm still pleased," Lehnus said. "We're young. This is the first time the young kids have been in the playoffs, so it's a new experience for them. Right now they know what it's like to win their first playoff game. Getting to regionals two years in a row was a huge accomplishment in its own."
Bayfield now awaits the CHSAA Regional bracket to be released to see who the Wolverines play next. The brackets will be released Sunday.
"Bottom line, we're going to play our best when it matters most," Lehnus said.
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
IHS boys vs. Telluride
Put another notch on the belt, as the Ignacio High School boys basketball team took down Telluride for its ninth consecutive Colorado High School Activities Association Class 2A District 3 title Saturday.
The No. 1 Bobcats had the game in hand and beat the No. 2 Telluride Miners, 60-27.
Ignacio (20-2) took a little time to warm up during the first quarter but quickly turned on the jets and stormed past Telluride (9-13) for the win.
"We get everyone's best game; everyone prepares for us," Ignacio head coach Chris Valdez said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. "They're going to give their best, and we have to hang in there and keep the lead."
At halftime, Ignacio led by 11 points. But the Bobcats stepped on the gas in the second half and left Telluride behind.
Tucker Ward led Ignacio with 16 points, six rebounds and five steals, as Wyatt Hayes had another all-around game. The senior guard finished with 12 points, six rebounds, six steals and five assists. Austin McCaw also had a nice game with seven points and five rebounds, and Anthony Manzanares had five points. Nicholas Herrera added six rebounds.
Where Ignacio really succeeded was on the defensive side. The Bobcats' defense held the Miners to only four points in the third quarter.
"We usually want to keep everyone under 10 points per quarter," Valdez said. "I thought our defense did really well."
Ignacio also was strong at the free-throw line, going 12-for-15 from the charity stripe.
As head coach of Ignacio, Valdez has coached the team to nine district titles in 10 years.
"Everyone here is hoping that we don't play well," Valdez said. "We show up to districts to win, that's what we've created. We don't show up to play, we show up to win."
IHS girls vs. Dolores
The top-seeded Ignacio High School girls basketball team took care of business in the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 2A District 3 Tournament, capping the weekend with a 63-28 win over No. 2 Dolores.
"We took it to them pretty good," Ignacio head coach Shane Seibel said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. "We were really focused (Saturday). The girls are not satisfied; we have to get ready for next week."
Avionne Gomez led the Bobcats with 21 points Saturday. Coach Seibel said her performance fun to watch.
"She had a coming-out party and had a lot of confidence (Saturday)," he said.
Ignacio dominated the field by outscoring its opponents 141-38 in two games. The Bobcats (18-4) used their defensive pressure to jump to a 16-6 lead in the first quarter and shut out Dolores (12-9) the rest of the game.
Every Ignacio girl scored in the win with Cortney Wilson-Baker getting 10 points. Ellie Seibel had eight points and eight rebounds, Hilda Garcia had five points and seven assists, and Alejandra Lujan had eight rebounds.
As a team, Ignacio outrebounded Dolores 31-12.
"We're really starting to hit our stride and be where we want," coach Seibel said. "We'll take it to whoever we play next. It's always a challenge, but we want to play good, tough basketball."
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
