With Bayfield High School boys basketball senior guard Turner Kennedy’s hands in Centauri point guard Martin Garcia’s face in the waning seconds of the third quarter in Monday’s Class 3A Intermountain League clash at Bayfield High School, Garcia heaved a 3-pointer. It went in to the delight of Falcon fans and dismay of a packed Bayfield gymnasium. Garcia smiled, shrugged and walked off the court knowing his shot was a momentum changer.
It was one of 10 3-pointers the Falcons would make in a stellar shooting performance in a 64-53 road win against the Wolverines.
Both teams came into Monday’s tilt receiving votes and were just outside of the top 10 in the latest Colorado High School Activities Association Class 3A poll. BHS was ranked No. 13 with five points, while Centauri was right behind at No. 14 and had received three points. In a game with crucial league implications, it was Centauri’s 3-point shooting that prevailed.
“Our inside-out passing was great, first and foremost,” Centauri head coach Jeff Brown said. “It really started working for us, and we’ve been really working on our 3s. It helps when we’ve got a big in Alex Holman who can dominate. He dished the ball really well for us, and I think that’s why we got off to a good start.”
Bayfield (10-5, 5-1 IML) had a rough start in the first quarter, as it gave up three 3s and was down 14-9. Hayden Farmer got Bayfield’s offense going with seven points. The Falcons (11-3, 3-2 IML) hit seven 3s in the first half, including two from Garcia. Bayfield went into the locker room down 33-23 at halftime.
“Coach told us that we needed to play defense with our hands up,” said BHS point guard Keyon Prior. “We weren’t forcing steals, were slow to react to their ball movement, and they were making their 3s.”
For all of Bayfield head coach Klint Chandler’s halftime talk about guarding the 3-point arc and getting hands up on defense, it didn’t come to fruition as he planned.
“Clearly, my speech at half didn’t work, because we didn’t get going,” Chandler said. “That wasn’t a very good speech, I guess. Maybe I should have changed defenses earlier because they clearly were making everything no matter who we had out there guarding them. They were just on tonight.”
Kennedy, who had 15 points for BHS including 11 in the fourth quarter, said if Bayfield had played better defense in the first half, the result might have ended differently.
“It’s frustrating,” Kennedy said. “Coach was right; we didn’t have our hands up on defense, and they’d basically have a wide-open shot. They’re a good 3-point shooting team, but we didn’t do enough on defense. We fought back in the second half, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. So, we put ourselves into that situation.”
On top of Garcia’s buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter, he also put the game to bed with an old-fashioned three-point play at the foul line with 40.2 seconds left. BHS had it within five points and stole an inbound pass, but Prior had the ball stripped away from him, and the Falcons called a timeout. After the timeout, Garcia went coast-to-coast for the game-clinching play.
“Martin is a competitor, day in and day out,” Brown said. “There will be days where he’ll have 15 or 20 points and you won’t realize how it happened. He’s really started to come on and hit some big shots for us, and he’s our only senior, so for him to have a play at the end of the game like that, it really says a lot.”
Centauri’s post play also played a role in the win. Alec Holman stepped up for the Falcons by containing BHS big man Ethan Morris, who was held to eight points and picked up three fouls midway through three quarters. Noah Sowards, a forward, had the other highlight of the night after he slammed home an alley-oop dunk.
“Our post play was so big for us tonight,” Brown said. “Alec is a kid that can play from beyond the arc and probably wasn’t at his best for the last eight games or so, but he’s one of those kids where if he’s on, we’re tough to beat.”
Brown said the win means the Intermountain League is up for grabs, and anybody can come away with the title.
“Everyone’s involved,” Brown said. “This league is so strong from top to bottom, and there are never any nights off. The way that it sits right now is there’s five teams fighting for the top two spots, and how the chips fall after that, it’s anybody’s guess.”
Farmer was BHS’ second leading scorer with 14, while Prior had 10. Holman had 11 for the Falcons, while Owen Richardson had eight.
Bayfield will travel to Cortez for a showdown against Montezuma-Cortez at 7 p.m. Friday.
bploen@durangoherald.com
