The top-ranked team in class 3A proved to be too much for No. 9 Bayfield High School, for now.
Sterling, the defending 3A state champions and No. 1 team in the Colorado High School Activities Association’s coaches poll, built an early lead and held on to tame the Wolverines 58-46 Saturday afternoon at the Buena Vista Invitational in Buena Vista.
Even with the loss, BHS head coach Jeff Lehnus was pleased with his team’s performance.
“Yes, we lost by 12, but we won the second half, and that was with their starters playing. There was no slack off for them versus us,” he said. “It was a much better performance than the night before against Salida and there were a lot more positives. We still didn’t make enough shots and we had too many turnovers against a good team, and execution for us at times still needs to improve.”
Despite the Tigers (5-0) having a massive size advantage with three players listed at 6-foot-7 or taller, Lehnus said the rebounding margin was pretty close.
Sterling’s Bodi Hume, a 6-foot-8 senior, led the Tigers with 30 points. No other Sterling player cracked double figures.
Ryan Phelps led the Wolverines (1-3) with 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Hayden Farmer added 10 points.
The Wolverines will be off until next weekend when they host San Juan High School from Blanding, Utah, for their home opener on Friday at BHS.
Shiprock 55, Durango 48
A tough third quarter on the offensive end doomed the Demons.
Durango (1-4) trailed Shiprock 26-25 at halftime but fell behind 41-27 going into the fourth quarter. The Chieftains (6-3) held on for a 55-48 victory to close out the third-place game of the Marv Sanders Invitational tournament in Farmington.
The Demons were close throughout the game except for that two-point third quarter. The team got off to a nice start and trailed 12-10 after one quarter.
Durango will play its first home game of the season at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Kirtland Central.
Girls Basketball
Girls Basketball
Girls BasketballTwo games in one day couldn’t slow down the Ignacio High School girls basketball team.
The Bobcats (3-0) met Nucla (0-2) and Montezuma-Cortez (1-2) for a pair of games Saturday at the Montezuma-Cortez tournament and walked away with a pair of lopsided wins in Cortez.
Ignacio opened the day against Nucla and cruised to a 58-15 victory, then, about an hour later, tipped off against the Panthers and rolled to a 56-27 win.
“It was a good day of basketball, that’s for sure,” IHS head coach Trae Seibel said. “In all my years as being an assistant, I’ve never played two games in one day. ... It was a good challenge for us to respond to. We came out strong against Nucla and finished strong. Then came out an hour later and played Cortez, who in my opinion is a pretty good 3A school. For us to respond that well was pretty big for us.”
The Bobcats’ defense shined in both games. Against Nucla, the Bobcats recorded 22 steals, then came up with 17 steals against Montezuma-Cortez behind good on-ball pressure.
Avionne Gomez led the Bobcats in scoring in both games. She scored 19 against Nucla and 21 against the Panthers.
Allisianna Baker-Marquez finished with 12 points against Nucla and Makayla Howell added 10.
Larissa Gallegos scored 10 points against Cortez.
Seibel said the bench played well to help keep the Bobcats in control during both games.
As strong as the individual performances were for the Bobcats, Seibel said he thought the team’s performance as a whole outweighed the individual performances.
“I’m proud that the girls have stayed together and competed together as a team,” he said.
The Bobcats will be back on the road Tuesday to face Dolores (2-2) in Dolores.
A rough second quarter doomed the Bayfield High School girls basketball team to a 41-24 loss to Broomfield’s Jefferson Academy Saturday at the Buena Vista Invitational in Buena Vista.
The Wolverines trailed 8-7 after the first quarter, but were held to two points in the second quarter and trailed 19-9 at halftime.
BHS cut the deficit to 29-23 early in the fourth quarter, but the Jaguars (4-1) scored a couple quick buckets to kill the Wolverines’ momentum and closed the game on a 12-1 run.
“I feel like the girls are growing significantly. We have a very young team and have very few returning players from last year. As a team we’re starting to learn how to play together,” BHS head coach Josh Kitchen said. “We did a lot of good things today, but our shooting percentage was pretty low.”
Kitchen said the Wolverines did a good job moving the ball to find good looks at the basket and spread the scoring around. Tymbree Florian led Bayfield with nine points and Jordan Lanning added seven.
Kitchen added that the Wolverines were missing a couple players to previous engagements and thought the junior varsity players who filled in performed well.
No Jefferson Academy player scored in double digits, as Laura Riley led the team with six points.
Bayfield will host San Juan High School from Blanding, Utah, on Friday at BHS.
Air Academy 56, Durango 21
Pueblo Central 43, Durango 33
The Durango High School girls basketball team closed out the 22nd Hornet Holiday Tournament with a pair of losses Saturday in Pueblo.
In their first game of the day, the Demons (1-6) fell to Air Academy 56-21, then dropped a 43-33 decision to Pueblo Central.
“The girls gained a lot of experience against good teams,” DHS head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said, who’s team also faced Pueblo County and Harrison at the tournament. “(We) made some improvements over the weekend. We’re proud of how hard they played.
Taylor Dossey led the Demons with eight points against Air Academy (5-1), and Hilda Garcia, who is playing with a broken bone in her left hand, added six points.
Garcia led Durango with 14 points against Pueblo Central (4-5).
The Demons will play at Farmington (3-4) on Tuesday.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
