BAYFIELD – No single aspect of the Bayfield High School boys basketball team’s play improved in the second half against Sargent on Tuesday.
Every aspect got better, as the Wolverines pulled away to win 74-38 and snap a three-game losing streak.
BHS (9-4) stretched a 13-point halftime lead to 20 with a 9-2 run out of the gate.
“At halftime we jut talked about continuing that better execution,” BHS head coach Jeff Lehnus said. “Every phase of the game, I just feel got better. I wouldn’t single out any single thing, as collectively we got better.”
Rebounding took the largest leap.
The Wolverines outrebounded Sargent (6-6) 16-8 in the first half and 27-7 in the second half for a 43-15 edge in the game.
“It’s always a focus for our coaches to have us box out,” said BHS freshman Ryan Phelps, son of Nancy and Trent Phelps.
Phelps nearly grabbed more boards than the Farmers by himself with 13.
He also scored a game-high 15 points for his second double-double in two starts.
“He brought us an inside presence both on the boards and in scoring potential, as well,” Lehnus said. “He kept a couple of balls alive to tip them back in. That’s what’s getting exciting, in a way.”
Phelps is starting in place of BHS senior Preston Hardy, who has missed the last two games with an illness.
But he doesn’t place all of the weight of replacing Hardy on his own shoulders.
“I feel like it’s a team effort,” Phelps said. “It’s a team effort.”
Two senior guards shouldered the load, each in different halves.
Conner Kennedy scored all 10 of his points in the first half, and Matthew Knickerbocker finished with 12.
Knickerbocker scored 10 of those points and grabbed three of his four rebounds in the fourth quarter to help close out the game.
“I know all the guys that start, they trust me that I can put up some good defense and stuff like that,” said Knickerbocker, son of Kirk and Marie Knickerbocker.
It was important for the Wolverines to close the game out with feeling after leading in the fourth quarter of its previous two losses.
“Losing three games is hard to come back from,” Knickerbocker said. “We needed this win to boost some confidence.”
BHS gradually built its first-half lead from 12-6 with 2 minutes, 22 seconds left in the first quarter to 16-8 at the start of the second quarter at 35-22 at halftime.
“It took us a quarter (Tuesday) to get back in the flow, and we realized, we can do it,’ Knickerbocker said. “We feel like if we play our game, we can beat anyone.”
Especially in their home gym, where the Wolverines are now 4-0.
Tuesday night was the first time BHS had played at home in nearly three weeks.
They began Intermountain League play with three consecutive road games and won the Rumble in the Jungle tournament in Aztec before that.
The Wolverines will stay in the friendly confines of their home gymnasium for their next game.
They play Centauri at 7 p.m. Friday in the second game of a doubleheader.
“No matter what, we focus on some progression. Despite those losses, there were some progressive things,” Lehnus said. “I’m pleased with (Tuesday night). We did what we should do, in my mind. There should be separation and finishing off a team. Now we get ready for Friday and Saturday. It was a good ‘W’. Feeling good again.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
