The last time Pagosa Springs girls' basketball actually lost at home during regular-season play was indeed a forgettable performance. Not only because the Pirates lost to 3A Intermountain League nemesis Centauri, but because they lost having allowed just 29 points while scoring a paltry 24.
Since Feb. 4, 2012, PSHS Gymnasium has become about as hostile a port any team, no matter how talented, would ever want to enter. That was the year Bayfield not only also beat PSHS, but beat them three times-en route to a final destination of Fort Collins and Colorado State University's Moby Arena for the Class 3A state championships Great Eight.
BHS took its latest shot at upsetting the classification's #1-ranked team Tuesday evening, but the Pirates rapidly made known that more than 29 points would be required to spoil their Senior Night.
Senior guard Taylor Lee-Hammer caught fire almost immediately, swished three three-pointers, and totaled 11 points during the first quarter as Pagosa Springs built a 22-4 lead in the first eight minutes. Sophomore star forward Morgan Lewis then began the second quarter with a three-point play and PSHS (18-0, 9-0 IML) would eventually take a 46-8 advantage into halftime of what ultimately ended up being a 75-17 win.
Sophomore Courtney Bayles managed nine points for the Wolverines (4-14, 0-9). The Bayfield girls entered the game still fueled up by a vastly-improved 56-39 loss at Montezuma-Cortez three days before, and junior Taylor Morris scored four against the Pirates' interior.
"We have worked hard on post moves," said head coach Lana Killough. "Courtney is working very hard to try and get those down; we've pushed her to a certain point and we've just started pushing her a little bit harder-those dribble-drives are a part of it. We're going to have to work on it in the off-season, and she's going to get it; she's very coachable, and she's going to get it. And we've got stuff with Taylor, and we'll work on it."
Junior guard Kyle Baker scored BHS' other four points. With the outcome long decided, the team concentrated on honing fundamentals and set patterns.
"The second half they started to try to run the offense, and.work things we've done," Killough said. "Hopefully they see what we've been telling them actually does work, and it might be worth doing now and then."
Lewis totaled nine points during the second quarter, 13 in the first half, and totaled a game-best 20.
Lee-Hammer sank one more trey before intermission and finished with 16. Junior Megan Farrah booked 12, senior Mariah Snarr had eight and senior Madi Lewis-slowed by a rolled ankle resulting from a first-half rebound against Bayfield sophomore Tiarra Christensen-five. The Pirates won their 10th consecutive meeting with BHS, their 44th straight contest, their 69th in 70 and 91st in 96 since concluding the '11-12 campaign standing a more mortal 16-7 overall.
The Wolverines wrapped up regular-season work at home yesterday evening versus #6-ranked CHS (15-3, 6-3 IML after last Saturday's 59-43 loss at PSHS).
AND SPEAKING OF.: The 2011-12 Bayfield girls' squad, former team member Kayla Strobel was named the American Southwest Conference (NCAA Division III) West Division's Player-of-the-Week on Monday, Feb. 15, after a 2-1 stretch which helped Concordia University of Austin, Texas, clinch an ASC Tournament spot.
Strobel sank five three-pointers in each of the three contests-a 70-58 win over University of the Ozarks, a 67-65 loss to Howard Payne University of Brownwood, Texas, and a 65-52 win over Sul Ross State University between Feb. 8 and Feb. 13. She upped her scoring from 15 points versus the Eagles, to 17 versus the Yellow Jackets away, to a career-high 23 on the road last Saturday against the Alpine, Tex.-based Lobos.
Strobel was 18-of-34 (52.9%) from the field overall and 15-of-24 (62.5%) from beyond the arc as she increased her senior-year scoring average from 4.6 to 5.7 points per game, and lifted 'CTX' to 4-9 in the ASC and 12-11 overall with only tomorrow's Senior Day game versus McMurry (Abilene, Tex.) U. left on the slate.
