The Bayfield High School boys basketball team received the No. 22 seed in the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 3A State Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
The Wolverines (11-10) will open the playoffs against the No. 11-seeded Colorado Springs Christian Lions (17-5) on Friday with a tip off time yet to be announced.
Bayfield is coming off a third place finish in the Intermountain District Tournament last week as the Wolverines beat the Monte Vista Pirates 69-65 on Saturday. The road for the Wolverines only gets tougher.
“It’s extremely challenging, it’ll be challenging when you’re the 22 seed,” Bayfield head coach Jeff Lehnus said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “I’ve tried to put challenges in perspective as opportunities. We’ll come ready to play and have a gameplan.”
The Lions have size down low with Samuel Howard averaging 10.4 rebounds per game to go along with 2.2 blocks. Colorado Springs Christian also has size at the guard spot as Justin Engesser leads the Lions with 19.4 points, 6.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game.
The Lions are a good shooting team, making 38 percent from beyond the arc, 50 percent from the field.
“We really need to have everyone to step up,” said Lehnus. “It’s not just one person that is going to do this, we need everyone contributing. We have to contain their scorers and execute on offense. They’ll have the inside presence so we have to be intelligent, aggressive and believe.”
Defense will be the main focus the Wolverines as the Lions average 65 points per game with 18.3 assists a game.
Taed Heydinger leads the Wolverines with 13.5 points per game and poured in 19 against Monte Vista. Ryan Phelps leads the Wolverines in rebounding with eight per game and finished with a double-double (13 points, 16 rebounds) against the Pirates.
“We’re going to play at high speed, we’re going to keep a high tempo in practice, and hopefully that will increase our ability to win,” said Lehnus. “I’m a realistic optimist. I always believe in the possibilities, but I’m logical, too. There’s no use in entering a game already defeated in your mind, we want to represent our league and our school and believe anything is possible.”
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
