When the smell of something burning filled the Bayfield High School gymnasium, nobody was sure whether it was the heater inside the gym or the nets from how many baskets the Wolverines made in the first half.
The odor was the furnace, but the baskets kept falling in quantities in the second half for the Bayfield varsity boys basketball team in a 78-41 victory against Centauri to open Class 3A Intermountain League play.
BHS (5-5, 1-0 IML) controlled play from the opening whistle, as Ryan Phelps won the tipoff and BHS pushed the ball up the floor to Dax Snooks for a wide-open layup only seconds into the game.
Hayden Farmer scored five points in the game’s opening two minutes with silky-smooth jump shots, and BHS jumped out to an 11-0 lead.
The onslaught continued, as the press defense by the Wolverines forced numerous turnovers by the Falcons (6-4, 0-1 IML) en route to a 46-18 halftime lead.
Right out of halftime, Farmer threw up a perfect alley-oop pass to Phelps for an electrifying two-hand dunk that seemed to put Centauri away for good.
“It’s huge when we can get the first two points in the beginning of both halves,” Phelps said. “It gives us the upper edge, and we try to keep that up the entire game.”
Phelps finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots. Blocked shots were a theme all night, as Centauri begged for foul calls as the Wolverines got all-ball.
“It pumps us up,” BHS sophomore guard Keyon Prior said of Phelps’ swats. “We get really excited and it gives us energy to play even harder.”
Prior had a standout second quarter in which he scored all 11 of his points. He converted two traditional three-point plays and made a 3-pointer. He had a chance at another and-one opportunity but was whistled for a charge.
Turner Kennedy came off the bench and led the Wolverines with 15 points, as he made all six of his free throws in the fourth quarter. Brian Mashak finished with 10 points, Farmer had nine and McKay Wells added eight.
Centauri was led by Nate Anderson and Dustyn Sowards, who both had 10 points. But the Falcons finished with more than 20 turnovers.
“We worked all week on denial defense,” Phelps said. “We wanted them to play our game.”
BHs did it all Friday night without head coach Jeff Lehnus, who missed the game because of an illness. His three assistants stepped in and coached the team flawlessly in his absence.
“We wanted to go out there and get that win for him,” Phelps said of his head coach.
The Wolverines will travel to Monte Vista for another league game Saturday. With the start of IML play, the Wolverines have shifted focus to winning a championship.
“We want to play our game, and it starts with that hard denial defense and making teams play our game,” Prior said. “We’re shooting to get that league title.”
Girls Basketball
Girls BasketballWhat was a close game in the first quarter turned ugly in a hurry Friday night.
In the Class 3A Intermountain League girls basketball opener, Centauri mounted a 33-2 run between the second and third quarters to turn an 8-6 lead after one quarter into a 41-12 lead by the end of the third. BHS found a little bit of offense in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late in a 61-20 loss.
Chole Weybright led BHS (3-6, 0-1 IML) with eight points, and Savannah Kaufmann added six.
Centauri (9-1, 1-0 IML) didn’t back out of its press defense all night and played hard offensive until the final whistle. Junior guard Alyssa Gomez led the Falcons with 17 points, while junior forward Ember Canty used her 6-foot-2 fram to score 14 points and collect double-digit rebounds.
BHS gave up a slew of offensive rebounds and was outsized in the paint.
The Wolverines will travel to play Monte Vista on Saturday.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
