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Reunited, and it feels so good

After countless close losses, the Wolverines put together a complete game for a win

Finally reunited, the Bayfield High School boys basketball brought its full strength to bear at Monte Vista on Tuesday in the first round of the Intermountain League tournament.

The Wolverines shook off a league season of close losses to cruise to a 51-37 victory to keep their season alive.

“We finished this one,” BHS head coach Jeff Lehnus said.

Taed Heydinger led BHS (10-9, 2-7 IML) with 14 points and five rebounds.

Trevor Gabbard (13) and Zane Phelps (11) joined him in double digits in the scoring column.

“We had more balance to our game because teams just want to shut us down inside,” Lehnus said.

The game was tied at 24 at halftime, but BHS turned up its defense in the second half, holding Monte Vista (10-10, 3-6 IML) to four points in the third quarter and 13 total the rest of the way.

Preston Hardy and Ryan Phelps combined to hold Monte Vista star Donald Poole to four points in the game.

“Tremendous defense,” Lehnus said. “Once again, it paid off.”

The Wolverines also shot better as a team than they have recently, hitting 41 percent of their shots from the field.

They went 5-of-12 from beyond the 3-point line, too.

“That’ll work,” Lehnus said. “The kind of 3s were inside-out. We weren’t just putting them up.”

Tuesday’s win was Bayfield’s first game with a full complement of players since late January when Hardy missed his first game with the flu.

Sickness coupled with suspensions limited the Wolverines’ player pool over the last month, but now BHS can see what it can do at full strength for the remainder of the postseason.

“It was nice, and everybody contributed,” Lenhus said.

Now BHS turns its attention to league juggernaut Alamosa in the second round of the IML tournament Friday in Pagosa Springs.

The Mean Moose swept both meetings with the Wolverines this year and only lost one league game.

But Lehnus still feels optimistic about his team’s chances.

“They’re still the team to beat. It’ll take an A+ game,” he said. “Matchups are what they are. Pagosa (Springs) beat them, and we played (Pagosa Springs) to two, tough three-point ballgames. I gotta feel like the boys have an opportunity, and they believe that – they believe they could do more.”

Winning Tuesday doesn’t automatically qualify BHS for the Class 3A state tournament, but it makes their job easier.

Should the Wolverines beat Alamosa, they’re in because the top-three teams from the district qualify.

Should BHS lose, they’ll play either Centauri or Pagosa Springs in a third-place game for the state tournament spot.

heraldsports@durangoherald.com

Feb 23, 2015
Mean Moose end BHS girls season


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