Not finishing has derailed the Bayfield High School boys basketball team’s start to the Intermountain League season.
The Wolverines lost their fourth consecutive league game and third tight one in a row 72-65 to Centauri on Friday in Bayfield.
BHS senior Trevor Gabbard pulled BHS (8-5, 0-4 IML) within five with a 3-pointer with 37.5 seconds left.
“We were thinking about getting the ball down the floor and stopping the clock, either hitting the three and getting the timeout, drawing a foul,” said Gabbard, son of Joe and Kelly Gabbard.
Centauri (7-7, 1-2 IML) turned the ball over on its next possession and fouled Bayfield’s Ryan Phelps. The Wolverine freshman made both free throws to cut it to one possession.
The Falcons were able to inbound the ball on their second attempt after Dillon Hoselton tipped their first pass out, and Jeremy Cornum sank both free throws to extend the lead to five and effectively end the game.
“We played well enough to win, but you can’t win if you don’t finish,” BHS head coach Jeff Lehnus said. “The tale of our league season, more than anything else at the moment, is finishing. We’ll keep working at it. That’s all we can do.”
BHS scored the first six points of the second half before a Centauri run put the Falcons up 54-48 at the end of the third quarter.
Centauri outscored the Wolverines 39-32 in the second half.
“We went through a scoring drought, and they were better on the boards than we were in this game,” Lehnus said.
The Falcons outrebounded BHS by nine, but the extra possessions gained from offensive rebounds kept BHS from narrowing the gap earlier.
BHS also had to deal with the limited return of senior center Preston Hardy, who was returning from a 10-day illness. He finished with five points and three rebounds in limited minutes.
His replacement in the starting lineup, Phelps, showed why he will continue to receive minutes even after Hardy returns to full strength. Phelps scored 19 points and grabbed five rebounds.
“We’re asking a lot of Ryan Phelps as a freshman,” Lehnus said. “He’s responded so well.”
Dillon Hoselton was Bayfield’s other double-digit scorer with 11.
BHS also played much of the game without starting point guard Conner Kennedy because of foul trouble. He fouled out with just under a minute-and-a-half left trying to grab an offensive rebound.
“In tight games, not having your point guard on the floor because of foul trouble, that hurts,” Lehnus said.
The same wounds keep reopening for the Wolverines at the end of close games.
“It is getting frustrating,” Gabbard said. “We’re all frustrated.”
Friday’s loss ended Bayfield’s undefeated start at home and a 10-game winning streak at BHS.
The Wolverines can start another one at 7 p.m. Saturday against Alamosa.
“We’re all expecting to get the win and come back from a tough loss,” Gabbard said.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
