It's time to throw caution to the wind.
Or, in the Bayfield boys' case, to the Lions.
They're positioning themselves for another possible stunning postseason surge, via a third-place finish at last weekend's Intermountain League District Tournament to gain inclusion in the CHSAA Class 3A State Tournament. Coach Jeff Lehnus' no-quit Wolverines will face Colorado Springs Christian School in the bracket's opening Round of 32.
Tip-off between 22-seed BHS (now 11-10 overall) and #11 CSCS-the defending state champions-is set for 7 p.m. tonight in Arvada, with the winner then facing either hosting #6 Faith Christian (17-5) or #27 Watkins Ridge View Academy (16-6) tomorrow at 1 p.m. for the right to continue into the Great Eight.
Trying to follow up on last winter's 26-1 effort, including a 55-52 win over Denver's Colorado Academy in the grand finale held in Golden at Colorado School of Mines, Mark Engesser's 2015-16 squad did manage a repeat 11-1 romp through the Tri-Peaks League and will enter the contest a solid 17-5 overall.
Looking to step their strength of schedule up this season, three of their losses-by five points to Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy's Varsity National Team, by 11 to Bel Aire (Kan.) Sunrise Christian Academy, and by four to Gilbert (Ariz.) Christian-came before Christmas at the in-town, inaugural City of Champions Holiday Classic held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
Bayfield, meanwhile, most recently managed to shake off last Thursday's 60-48 loss to Pagosa Springs in La Jara with a gut-checking 69-65 defeat of Monte Vista-also played at Centauri Middle School-in which the final numbers were practically as close as the outcome.
Bayfield controlled the Pirates 21-10 after the first quarter, but MVHS took the fourth 22-13. In between the opening and closing rushes, the Pirates won the second quarter 21-20-though the Wolverines still held a 41-31 advantage-before losing the third, 15-12, to BHS.
Senior guard Taed Heydinger paced the Wolverines with 17 points and sophomore center Ryan Phelps made a fine running mate with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Junior guard Brian Mashak and sophomore guard Hunter Killough each netted nine points, senior forward Zane Phelps had eight and freshman guard Keyon Prior six.
Prior, Zane Phelps and Heydinger each grabbed four boards, and Prior distributed four of BHS' 15 assists (seven Wolverines in all had at least one, and six had at least two).
Senior center/forward Nevada Siemering paced the Pirates with a Phelps-like 15-point, 16-rebound, 4-steal performance, and Monte Vista also got double-figure scoring from senior guard Bryant Chacon (13), senior guard Presley Garcia (12) and senior guard Michael Valdez (10, with nine rebounds).
Senior guard Jacob Naranjo was close with nine on 3-of-6 work from three-point land before fouling out, but Garcia and Valdez were a combined 2-of-16 as MVHS (7-15 overall) hit 8-of-28. BHS, meanwhile, was 2-of-6.
Free-throw accuracy was much more similar, with the Wolverines a 63.3 percent 19-of-30 at the stripe-led by Mashak (5-6) and Heydinger (5-8)-and the Pirates a 65.2% 15-of-23 (Valdez 7-8).
Ryan Phelps' 10 points led Bayfield in the loss to PSHS. Killough netted nine, Prior and Zane Phelps each booked eight and Mashak seven. BHS, trailing since the Pirates' initial 8-2 burst, rallied to briefly take a 32-29 lead during the third quarter before Pagosa regained the upper hand, 40-36, entering the fourth, and put the game away with 12 FT's in 17 attempts while the Wolverines hit one of two.
Also representing the IML in the Round of 32 will be district champs Alamosa-whom CSCS defeated twice last season. The Mean Moose are now 17-4 overall and were awarded the 8-seed, and district runners-up PSHS (13-8; 16-seed). AHS will begin its climb up the ladder against #25 Fort Collins Liberty Common (15-7), while Randy Sorenson's Pirates get underway against #17 Basalt (17-5).
2016 IML DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
3RD-PLACE GAME, 2/27:
MONTE VISTA (10-21-12-22) 65-J.Naranjo 3 0-0 9, B.Chacon 5 1-2 13, N.Siemering 6 2-4 15, M.Valdez 1 7-8 10, P.Garcia 3 5-9 12, D.Aguilera 1 0-0 2, J.Roberts 0 0-0 0, D.Mascarenas 0 0-0 0, K.Castro 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 21 15-23 65. 3-POINTERS: Naranjo 3, Valdez, Siemering, Chacon 2, Garcia. TOTAL FOULS: 21. FOULED OUT: Naranjo.
BAYFIELD (21-20-15-13) 69-T.Heydinger 5 5-8 17, Z.Phelps 4 0-0 8, K.Prior 3 0-1 6, H.Killough 3 3-8 9, R.Phelps 6 3-3 15, B.Mashak 2 5-6 9, H.Farmer 0 2-2 2, Z.Kujath 1 1-2 3, F.Edwards 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24 19-30 69. 3-POINTERS: Heydinger 2. TOTAL FOULS: 20. FOULED OUT: None.
SEMIFINAL NO. 1, 2/25:
BAYFIELD (6-12-18-12) 48-T.Heydinger 1 0-0 2, Z.Phelps 2 4-4 8, K.Prior 3 0-1 8, H.Killough 3 1-2 9, R.Phelps 4 2-3 10, B.Mashak 3 1-1 7, H.Farmer 1 0-0 2, Z.Kujath 0 0-0 0, F.Edwards 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 18 8-11 48. 3-POINTERS: Prior 2, Killough 2. TOTAL FOULS: 19. FOULED OUT: Mashak.
PAGOSA SPRINGS (12-13-15-20) 60-T.Kimsey 5 1-2 12, I.Griego 5 8-10 21, B.Erskine 4 5-7 13, E.Brown 3 0-0 6, C.Tamburelli 0 2-3 2, L.Schaaf 2 0-0 4, K.Laverty 0 2-2 2, Z.DeVooght 0 0-0 0, J.Pacheco 0 0-0 0, C.Cowan 0 0-0 0, N.Lewis 0 0-0 0, K.Anderson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19 18-24 60. 3-POINTERS: Kimsey, Griego 3. TOTAL FOULS: 15. FOULED OUT: None.
