Down 51-44 going to the fourth quarter, the Bayfield High School boys basketball team finally wore down the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers and scored 29 points in the final eight minutes to secure a big comeback win on the road.
Pressure defense from the Bayfield Wolverines (9-5, 4-1 3A Intermountain League) finally caught up to the Panthers in the final minutes, as Bayfield roared past the Panthers for a 73-65 victory Friday night in Cortez.
“It was a really strong second half for us,” BHS head coach Jeff Lehnus said. “We applied our pressure defense even more tonight and extended it a little more, also. It proved fruitful when I think fatigue set in for them in our 29-point fourth quarter.”
Lehnus called it a solid team win with big contributions across the board. Ryan Phelps led Bayfield with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Turner Kennedy was huge with 14 points and five steals. Hayden Farmer added 13 points and caught fire in the third quarter when BHS went down by 10 points. Dax Snooks finished with 12 points and nine rebounds in the win.
Cortez (8-6, 2-3 IML) was led by 20 points from Teagan Whiteskunk and 18 points from Jasen Engel.
“Their two guys got theirs, no question, but we did pretty good defending the rest of their team,” Lehnus said.
It was an exciting game for the players and the fans in attendance. Bayfield also was boosted by the return of junior guard Keyon Prior, who was worked back into action for the first time since he suffered a sprained ankle two weeks ago.
It was a big win for Bayfield after a tough home loss to Alamosa last Saturday. Now, the Wolverines will host Centauri at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Girls Basketball
Girls BasketballThe Wolverines opened play on a 7-0 run, but foul trouble and a cold stretch helped the Panthers take a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
Bayfield trailed 23-13 at halftime and fell 49-24 Friday night at Montezuma-Cortez (3-11, 1-4 3A Intermountain League).
“They hit a lot of 3s, and we got in foul trouble early on and had to take out starters,” BHS head coach Josh Kitchen said. “Switching the lineup affects the defense, and I think then they got easy 2s on us, too. They hit the high post and outside shots, and that put us in a hole.”
The offense of Bayfield (4-10, 1-4 IML) found a rhythm in the second half thanks to creating steals that led to easy baskets. The team also crashed the offensive glass to create second- and third-chance opportunities.
“We just didn’t do it consistently enough,” Kitchen said. “We had streaks where we looked really good and then cold streaks where we didn’t hit a shot for a few minutes.”
Jordan Lanning led Bayfield with 11 points. Freshman Kira Riley and junior Tymbree Florian each added seven points in the loss.
Bayfield will host Centauri (13-1, 4-1 IML) on Saturday. The Falcons beat BHS 58-21 in La Jara earlier this season.
“Our motto all season is that whether we’re up 20 or down 20, we play as hard as we can and with a passion,” Kitchen said. “The last time against Centauri, we did well with their full-court press defense. If we break that early and make them play a half-court game, you can beat anyone any given night.”
A special home venue at the SunUte Community Center was the stage for the Ignacio girls basketball team’s 11th consecutive win to open the season.
The Bobcats (11-0, 7-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin League) rolled to a 61-22 win against Nucla (2-10, 2-4 SJBL) in Ignacio.
Avionne Gomez scored a game-high 15 points for Ignacio. Morgan Herrera added 14 points, Larissa Gallegos scored 10 and Shelcie Gosney added seven points.
Ignacio took a 34-15 lead at halftime and went up 56-16 after three quarters. Nucla made only five shots from the field and went 12-of-23 from the free-throw line.
Ignacio will stay at home to play Thursday against Dolores (6-6, 5-2 SJBL) in a key league game.
