Centauri’s Leah Aziz won the opening tip, dribbled past Bayfield’s defense and laid the ball up for a 2-0 lead.
Bayfield High School turned the ball over on its first possession.
That dichotomy remained throughout Friday’s girls basketball game as Centauri cruised to a 51-23 win.
The Falcons pressed from the moment they took that first lead until the final buzzer.
“It kind of scared us because they pressed us right off the bat,” said BHS guard Aspen Pinnecoose, daughter of Sarah Russell and Clint Smith.
It contributed to the Wolverines turning the ball over 36 times in the game.
Centauri (10-4, 4-1 Intermountain League) had trouble holding on to the ball as well.
The Falcons coughed it up 34 times.
That led to a frantic pace, which did not favor BHS (0-13, 0-5 IML).
“I was telling them we need to control possession. We’re a team that needs to be running an offense,” BHS head coach Bri Simbeck said. “I have a couple kids who are good in the open court, but it’s not all of us.”
There were as many points (34) as turnovers at halftime, as Centauri led 24-10.
The difference was Centauri made its shots when it had the opportunity to take them. The Falcons hit 15-of-38 from the field compared to 7-of-40 for BHS.
Defensive effort has been the Wolverines’ calling card in a difficult season. They also outrebounded the Falcons 31-30.
“We’ve definitely stepped up our defense like we wanted to,” Pinnecoose said. “We just have to work on offense and knock our shots down.”
The basket widened for BHS in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines made four field goals in the final eight minutes after only hitting three up to that point.
Senior Jessie Roukema led the team with nine points and seven rebounds, and Pinnecoose scored eight.
Six of Roukema’s points came in the fourth quarter as BHS narrowed the gap from 20 to the final margin.
“My girls are fighters. It takes a lot of courage to come out here, especially with our record, each night and play hard,” Simbeck said. “I’m very proud of them and how they continue to play and try to get better each time.”
They next play Alamosa at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at BHS, a rematch of a game the Mean Moose won 50-29 in January.
“We always know that whenever a team comes from the valley it’s going to be a tough, physical game, so we’re trying to mentally prepare for that,” Simbeck said. “I think they’ll show a lot of mental toughness after playing (Friday).”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
