The Pagosa Springs High School girls basketball team entered Bayfield High School in first place of the Class 3A Intermountain League, and the Pirates improved on their record by beating the Wolverines 73-34.

Bayfield (3-9, 0-4) couldn’t get much going early on, as defending Class 3A state champion Pagosa Springs (12-0, 4-0) pressed on the gas from the tip. Leading Pagosa Springs in nearly every statistical category was Morgan Lewis with 26 points, nine steals, eight rebounds, four blocks and three assists. Lewis had her way down in the post as four of her eight rebounds came on the offensive end.

“Offensively, we took care of things, but our defense should have been better,” Lewis said. “We were all on the same page.”

Madison Lewis finished with 17 points, six assists and five rebounds, and Taylor Hammer-Lee finished with eight points and four assists for the Pirates.

At the end of the first quarter, Pagosa Springs led 27-4 and scored the majority of its points through transition basketball. Bayfield couldn’t get its offense set up for most of the night against the smothering Pirate defense.

“We played pretty good on transition offense and we got them early with the defensive pressure early, so that dictated a lot of what we did,” Pagosa Springs head coach Wes Lewis said. “Bayfield is in a rebuilding year, and I know they played hard, but it’s a team that we should beat.”

Pagosa Springs is looking for another repeat of last year’s undefeated and state championship season. With an undefeated record, coach Lewis said the Pirates have a good chance.

“We have a lot of experience and, if we stay healthy, I like our chances,” the coach said.

For Bayfield, the Wolverines were led by freshman Tymbree Florian with seven points. Courtney Bayles finished with six points while going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. For all of the lopsidedness of the game, the Bayfield girls found it in them to play hard all the way through.

“Pagosa just plays their game, they’re a well-oiled machine and we knew that,” Bayfield head coach Lana Killough said. “We proved that we can give it our all and feel good about the effort.”

Bayfield is on the road for the next five games beginning with Telluride at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

jmentzer@durangoherald.com