The Bayfield High School boys basketball team showed it was capable of beating big schools and good competition with its win against Durango on Dec. 8, and the Wolverines showed it again at Aztec’s Rumble in the Jungle tournament.
Durango High School’s basketball teams, the Bayfield High School boys team and the Ignacio High School teams all competed against some quality New Mexico and Arizona teams. The Bayfield boys did the best, winning two games to get to the title game.
The Durango boys and girls teams lost one-possession games in the opening rounds and the Ignacio girls also lost in the opening round. The Ignacio boys won a game before being bounced to the consolation bracket.
Bayfield boys top Tohatchi 53-52
The Bayfield boys opened the afternoon with a nail-biter, holding off a fourth-quarter Tohatchi rally to punch a ticket to Saturday’s championship game.
The Wolverines were led by junior Drew Lepson’s 20 points and junior Hayes Malone’s 15. The Cougars were backed by sophomore Myles Candelaria and senior Myka Candelaria, who both scored 16 points.
Bayfield seized control early, firing nine shots in the first quarter and hitting three from deep to build a 13-4 lead. Myles Candelaria accounted for all four Tohatchi points.
The Cougars found cleaner looks in the second quarter but struggled to convert. Myka Candelaria paced the offense with six points on a perfect shooting clip. Bayfield took fewer shots but carried a 22-14 edge into halftime.
Defense set the tone in the third. Bayfield forced at least five Cougar turnovers, yet Tohatchi stayed within reach, matching the Wolverines point for point. Bayfield entered the fourth up 37-29.
Two early Malone 3-pointers pushed Bayfield to a 47-35 cushion before the Cougars answered. Tohatchi carved the defense with backdoor cuts, finding Myka Candelaria for eight fourth-quarter points. The Cougars went 6-for-6 at the line, rallying to tie the game 52-52.
Foul trouble bit Tohatchi late, sending Bayfield to the line four times. The Wolverines managed just three points, opening the door for a Cougar surge.
The finish fell to junior Xavier Sutherlin. After earlier struggles at the line, he delivered one free throw to lift Bayfield ahead 53-52. Tohatchi’s final chance fell short as time expired.
“It was awesome for (Sutherlin) to experience that,” Bayfield head coach Damon White Thunder said. “He’s been coming off the bench for a year, but he’s been playing well, and I’m excited with the minutes he’s getting.”
Bayfield advanced to the championship game to face Bloomfield at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night.
Bloomfield dominates Ignacio boys, 62-19
Bloomfield High’s boys team established control early and never let up, combining efficient shooting with tight defense to secure a spot in the championship.
Senior Kaydin Nelson’s 16 points and senior Avery Harrison’s 14 carried Bloomfield. Ignacio leaned on junior Thunder WindyBoy, who led the Bobcats with 11 points.
Ignacio felt the absence of senior Trace Crane, their usual inside presence, as Bloomfield’s Marcus Garcia started hot with two 3-pointers and a layup during an 8-0 run. Bloomfield’s defense forced eight turnovers, shutting down Ignacio’s paint attacks.
WindyBoy’s three free throws finally got Ignacio on the board, leaving the score 19-3 after the first quarter. Bloomfield’s Paxton Morris scored four quick points in the second to push the lead to 23-5. Ignacio countered with a 3-pointer from Ambrose Valdez, but Nelson added four points to keep Bloomfield in control. The Bobcats trailed 38-13 at the half.
Bloomfield shot 80% from the field in the second half. Ignacio managed just six points after the break as Bloomfield rotated reserves to finish the win and set up a Saturday final against Bayfield.
“It’s always fun to play Bayfield,” Bloomfield head coach Dominique Richardson said. “They’re a little bit bigger and athletic. It’s going to be one of those games we want to execute a lot of the stuff we work on in practice, and it's going to be a grind.”
Consolation round games
In other second-round boys action, Durango defeated Aztec 49-32, led by junior King Kerlin’s 12 points. Robertson edged Kirtland Central 50-45 and faced Durango in the consolation championship Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Results weren’t available as of press time.
In girls action, Durango reached the consolation title game with a 67-23 win over Ignacio. Montezuma-Cortez overpowered Greyhills Academy 64-15 to set up a noon matchup with Durango on Saturday. Results weren’t available as of press time.
Bloomfield boys edge Durango in thrilling opening game
The boys bracket for the Rumble in the Jungle got off to a fine start Thursday morning as Bloomfield senior Paxton Morris connected on a three-pointer with four seconds left on the clock to lift the Bobcats to a dramatic 45-43 win over Durango.
Morris finished the game with nine points, but none meant more than the jumper from 21 feet out in the waning seconds of the contest over a stubborn Durango squad which was looking to put an end to a two-game losing streak.
The Demons grabbed the lead with 21 seconds left in the game when junior Kingston Kerlin drove through the lane and scored a tough basket to put Durango ahead for the first time since a 29-28 advantage late in the third quarter.
Kerlin’s shot was followed by a Bloomfield timeout with 11.3 seconds remaining, leading to the eventual game winning shot.
“The play was to find an open man at the top of the lane,” said Bloomfield head coach Dominique Richardson. “We’d been practicing a lot for these situations and working on those kinds of plays for months now, and it finally came to getting it done at a big moment.”
The Bobcats were led offensively by senior Luis Caro, who scored 12 points in the win. Durango, which falls to 1-4 overall, was led by junior Boaz Zastrocky, who scored 10 points while sophomore Taj Batiste had eight points.
The biggest lead of the game for either team was a seven-point advantage Bloomfield had midway in the second quarter when leading 20-13. The game featured seven lead changes including two in the final 21 seconds.
Despite having a size advantage over Bloomfield, the Demons struggled on converting from the field. Durango shot only 8-for-26 from the floor in the first half and turned the ball over 11 times during the game.
“We’re still a young team and a lot of these guys are still getting used to playing on the court with each other, so this was a good step forward for us,” said Durango head coach Alan Batiste.
Bloomfield will face off against Ignacio in the championship bracket of the tournament Friday at 6 p.m.
The Demons win set up their Friday game at noon against Aztec.
Ignacio boys knock off Aztec in opening round
The Ignacio High School boys basketball team scored early and often behind junior Thunder WindyBoy and seniors Ambrose Valdez and Trace Crance, rolling past Aztec 63-42 on Thursday to close the first day of the Rumble in the Jungle tournament.
Valdez led the Bobcats with 20 points, while Crance used his size to add 15. WindyBoy chipped in 12 to pace Ignacio.
For Aztec, seniors Christian Jacquez and Eathen Hengst scored eight points apiece, while Edgar Hinojos-Perez followed with seven.
Ignacio started strong from the field, shooting 80% and hitting 2 of 3 from the free-throw line to build an 18-5 lead by the end of the first quarter. Ten of those points came from Crance, who capitalized on lobs inside to give the Bobcats the early advantage.
In the second quarter, turnovers evened out, but Valdez controlled the pace. He scored eight points on drives and added four more at the line as Aztec ran into foul trouble. With seven team fouls, the Tigers sent Ignacio to the stripe four times, where the Bobcats hit 6 of 8 free throws to take a 36-22 lead into halftime.
Aztec received a boost from Jacquez, who scored eight points in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 47-35 with 2:29 remaining. However, Jacquez soon picked up his fourth foul and sat the rest of the quarter, allowing Ignacio to carry a 51-37 lead into the final frame.
Jacquez fouled out at the 4:55 mark of the fourth quarter, removing a key piece for the Tigers. Valdez continued to find teammates inside as Ignacio pushed the margin to 61-42 with under two minutes left.
The Bobcats emptied their bench to close out the 63-42 win. Ignacio advanced to face Bloomfield at 6 p.m. Friday with a spot in the championship game on the line.
The Tigers dropped to the consolation bracket with the loss.
Piedra Vista girls roll past Igancio in opening round
Senior Jaime Pierce scored 19 points to lead the Piedra Vista High girls basketball team to a convincing 51-12 rout over Ignacio in the opening game of the Lady Rumble in the Jungle Tournament at Lillywhite Gym at Aztec High.
Pierce, who scored 14 of her game-high points in the first half, including a pair of three-pointers, also got help offensively from senior Shahiyena John who scored eight points in the win.
The result of the game was never really in doubt, with the Panthers leading 29-6 at halftime, extending that margin to 41-10 at the end of the third quarter.
Piedra Vista (3-2) have now won three straight and advance to the second round of the championship bracket on Friday at 4:30 p.m. when they will face Grants.
Ignacio fell to 0-4 overall.
Martinez seals win for Grants girls over Durango
The Grants High girls basketball team extended its win streak to five straight games, topping Durango 51-49 in a thriller at Lillywhite Gym.
With the game tied at 49 inside the final minute of the fourth quarter, sophomore Demi Martinez nailed a clutch jump shot from 12 feet out to give the Pirates the lead. Martinez led the Pirates with 18 points on the night.
Grants opened the game with a 15-5 lead at the end of the first quarter, but were outscored 18-3 in the second quarter and went into the locker room trailing Durango by a score of 23-18.
After an evenly played third quarter, the Demons maintained a four-point advantage heading to the final frame. Junior Jaelyn Alston (16 points) and senior Claire Goodwin (15 points) led the Durango offense.
Grants grabbed the lead briefly in the fourth quarter but promptly gave the lead back to Durango leading to the game’s dramatic final moments.
“We lost to Durango bad last year so this was a big step forward for these girls,” said Grants head coach Jesi Mandagaran.
