The Bayfield High School boys basketball team found itself in uncharted territory as it dropped its third consecutive 3A Intermountain League game in a 53-44 road loss to Centauri on Saturday afternoon.
The defending state champion Wolverines (10-7, 5-3 IML) gave up seven more 3-pointers on Saturday after the same Centauri team hit 10 on Monday night in Bayfield.
Bayfield head coach Klint Chandler said his team ran into much of the same issues as it did in Friday’s overtime loss to Montezuma-Cortez.
“We have to get back on track, there’s no doubt about it,” Chandler said. “We settled for jumpers instead of attacking the basket. We might be a little bit tired and they aren’t falling, but we keep shooting them. Our second quarter hurt us, and we scored six points to put us down. We just could never get back up, never could make that big push.”
Turner Kennedy led Bayfield with 16 points, while Hayden Farmer had 12 and Keyon Prior had nine. Baron Holman tied the game-high mark of 16 points for the Falcons (13-3, 5-2 IML), while Trey Crowther had 12 and Martin Garcia had seven.
Bayfield will hit the road again at 7 p.m. Friday at Monte Vista.
The Durango boys basketball team dropped a tough one Saturday afternoon, as it fell 39-26 to Grand Junction, a team that had just one win on the season heading into the matchup.
The Demons led by four in the final five minutes of the game, but the offense dried up. DHS (9-10, 1-4 5A/4A Southwestern League) had three key turnovers that changed the game late
“We got it in the post to Martin (Cuntz) with a few minutes left, and he was called for a charging foul, but it was actually a good post move and barely touched the kid,” said DHS head coach Alan Batiste. “That was the play that changed the game, and even before that, a foul was called on six straight plays. It was ridiculous. From there, it really became a game all about free throws, which was unfortunate. We didn’t execute well enough down the stretch, but it shouldn’t have come to that.”
Grand Junction (2-18, 1-4 SWL) came into the game with three losses by a combined seven points, and Batiste said it was another “trap game.” Al Hurworth had a near double-double performance for DHS, as he had eight points and nine rebounds, while Jordan Woolverton had six points and eight rebounds.
“We’ve gotta end the season strong,” Batiste said. “League is out of our hands, and so now we have to play strong enough to get a good seed for the playoffs.”
DHS will travel to Montrose at 7 p.m. Friday.
Girls Basketball
Girls BasketballThe Durango High School girls basketball team fought hard on the road but came out with a tough result in a 32-23 loss to Grand Junction on Saturday afternoonl.
The Demons (7-12, 0-5 SWL) were in a defensive battle, as they were held to 10 points heading into the final quarter.
Emma Fitzgerald led the way for DHS with seven points, while Emma Hackett had six – all of which came in the fourth quarter – and Maddy McManus had four.
Grand Junction (14-5, 3-1 SWL) used its roster to its advantage as the Tigers had two players who were 6-foot-4 or taller.
“We fought hard, especially in that last quarter,” said DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick. “They were resilient after a tough one (Friday) night and played extremely hard again against another good team. (Grand Junction) was No. 12 in 5A and they had some size. They made it tough on us down low, so credit to them, but we battled all the way through.”
Durango will travel to Montrose at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
bploen@durangoherald.com
