DENVER — The town of Bayfield had to wait 48 years for another chance to win a state title in boys basketball.
Now, they’re celebrating two school titles in four months.
Hayden Farmer scored 13 of his 18 points as part of a dominant beginning for the Wolverines, Ryan Phelps added 16 of his own, and No. 7 Bayfield beat No. 12 Lutheran 68-57 for its first boys basketball title in school history on Saturday night at the University of Denver’s Hamilton Gymnasium.
Not long before winning the Class 3A title, many of the players — including four of the Wolverines’ five starters — were part of the school’s undefeated 2A football team.
Getting the second felt just as good.
(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
“Man, we were hungry to get another one,” said Farmer, who is also the school’s starting quarterback. “We wanted to make history.”
At the horn, the celebration carried from Denver to the small community 300 miles south. Junior Turner Kennedy was mobbed by purple-cladded fans as he rose the trophy high into the air and Farmer emotionally embraced his teammates.
The win meant a lot — for everyone, Bayfield coach Jeff Lehnus said.
“It’s a community that is very connected with each other,” Lehnus said. “You should have seen back at our Pine Cone restaurant, packed. The gym (in Bayfield), people are watching the game. There’s a unique connection among people because they grow up together.”
Kennedy added 13 points and Dax Snooks had 11 for the Wolverines (19-7), who were making their third trip to the finals and first since 1970.
The victory ended up being far less dramatic than their previous two in the postseason — wins over Alamosa and Faith Christian — both of which came down to the final minute.
Bayfield jumped out to a 32-9 lead, behind Farmer and a 3-point arsenal. The Lions (20-7) responded with a 12-2 run to end the half and climbed within as few as eight in the third and nine in the final minute.
But that’s as close as it would get.
“We wanted this so bad and came out and gave everything,” Phelps said. “We wanted to put everything out there and we did.”
Kole Brandon led Lutheran with 17 points, while Matthew Thompson added 14.
The Lions made one final push in the closing minutes, but Bayfield kept things out of reach from the line — going 23 of 31 for the game.
In the end, Lutheran’s magical run through the postseason was finally over. The Lions upset No. 1 Sterling the day before, thanks to a game-winning shot from Peter Gibas with 2.8 seconds remaining.
“The greatest silver-lining is what these kids are going to learn from this,” Lutheran coach Bill Brandsma said. “They came together, they’re a brotherhood, they’ll never forget each other, and they truly love each other. We knew the outcome of this game wouldn’t define us.
“Maybe we left it all out there yesterday (against Sterling), I don’t know,” he added. “But we sure came out flat today.”
DENVER — With bodies diving and flopping to the ground around him, Dax Snooks stayed just level enough in the final moments to propel Bayfield into its first state title game in 48 years.
Hayden Farmer came up with a loose ball amidst a mad scramble on the floor as the clock dwindled down. He threw it forward to Turner Kennedy, who found Snooks under the basket for the game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds remaining as the seven-seeded Wolverines beat No. 6 Faith Christian 45-42 in the Class 3A boys basketball semifinals on Friday night.
Snooks was still trying to piece everything together afterward. The senior guard said he heard that Kennedy was looking to dish the ball to Keyon Prior, but Prior got tangled up and hit the floor. He was thankful he was spotted shortly after that.
“He found me,” Snooks smirked.
(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
The chaos didn’t stop there.
The Eagles didn’t get a chance at a final shot in regulation because officials assessed a technical foul, citing the coaches for calling a timeout they didn’t have. Farmer salted the game away, hitting 1 of 2 from the line before throwing the ensuing inbounds securely to Ryan Phelps.
Afterward, Faith Christian coach Andrew Hasz said the technical was a result of miscommunication.
“That was a little weird,” he said. “The clock had been stopped to try to figure out the time. The official then came to our bench and told us to get on the floor, that there was no timeout and we had to keep playing.
“We assumed that there then wasn’t a timeout called. I guess the table charged us a timeout, so we didn’t have a timeout. So then when we called a timeout it was a technical.”
Phelps led Bayfield with 14 points, Snooks had 11 and Prior 10.
Snooks scored a quick nine points following halftime, leading the Wolverines (18-7) on a 19-4 run to open the third quarter. He capped the spurt with a 3, followed by a breakaway layup off a steal to put Bayfield up 37-26 with 1:19 left in the quarter.
Benjamin Hawkins finished with 15 points for Faith Christian (19-7), including 13 straight points for his team to carry the Eagles back from an 11-point deficit.
Later, after Jonah Gardner tied the game and a defensive stop, Faith Christian tried to hold for one possession in the final 1:30.
Hayden’s steal and Snooks’ winner, however, put a wrench in things.
“Excellent job on our guys’ behalf of not getting the foul and getting the steal,” Bayfield coach Jeff Lehnus said.
The Wolverines are headed to their third state finals game and first since 1970, per the coach. They will have a chance to win their first title in program history when they face No. 12 Lutheran on Saturday.
Peter Gibas hit from just inside the perimeter with 2.8 seconds remaining as Lutheran punched its ticket to the finals.
(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
Following a foul on the Lions (20-6), Sterling (25-1) inbounded to Carter Keil for the final shot of regulation. His attempt hit the side of the backboard, officially ending the Tigers’ perfect season.
Gibas and Tyler Eldred each had nine points for Sterling, which was down 7-2 in the first quarter before going back and forth with the Tigers the rest of the way. Gibas tied the game at 37-37 with 2:20 remaining and Lutheran held its final possession for more than 90 seconds.
Bodie Hume led Sterling with 19 points. The Tigers, who beat Faith Christian 48-47 for the title last season, will not repeat.
The 3A boys’ title game will begin at 6 p.m. at Hamilton Gym. The girls’ game will precede it at 4 p.m.
DENVER — Bayfield’s Ryan Phelps struggled from the field in an otherwise standout performance on Thursday evening.
He found the net when needed, too.
The red-headed bruiser had 10 points, 16 rebounds and five emphatic blocks, helping the No. 7 Wolverines beat No. 2 Alamosa 43-38 in the Class 3A state quarterfinals.
He saved his best for last.
Clinging to a 40-38 lead in the final 35 seconds, Phelps came up with a steal, a defensive board and hit three free throws to hold off the Mean Moose. It was the kind of clutch performance that allowed the senior and his coach to look past his 2-for-13 shooting.
“We focus on defense and rebounding first in our program tonight, and he epitomizes that,” Bayfield coach Jeff Lehnus said. “He may not have scored many points tonight, but he did everything else. And then he made those clutch points.”
Hayden Farmer had 13 points and Keyon Prior and Dax Snooks each had eight for the Wolverines, who shot just 31 percent in the win. Ry Adams had a game-high 16 for the Mean Moose.
It was the fourth meeting of the season between the Intermountain League rivals — and it went much like the first three, with gritty defense and pound-them-out buckets leading the way.
The season series ended in a split with Bayfield winning the last two, including the district championship on Feb. 24.
“It was a pleasure to be a part of a league with two teams this good,” Alamosa coach Brandon Brubacher said. “It was tough to face them again, but that’s what happens when two teams are doing this well.”
Adams put Alamosa on his back in the opening minutes of the third, scoring eight straight points to give the Mean Moose their only lead of the night. The 6-2 senior swished two 3s and capped off his solo run with a nifty reverse layup to make it 24-23 with 5:49 left in the quarter. But it was short-lived.
Alamosa led for 20 seconds before Farmer hit two free throws to put Bayfield back in the lead for good.
“It was 20 seconds too long,” cracked Lehnus.
Bayfield led 23-16 at half, using an all-around performance from Phelps to lead the way. The Mean Moose didn’t have an answer for him in the paint early on and wouldn’t score from the field until there was 24 seconds left in the first.
Phelps showed more of his all-around dominance in the second, too, soaring high for a crushing block at the hoop and following it with a quick steal and hoop moments later to put the Wolverines up 18-11.
“I just want to win,” he said.
Bayfield will face No. 6 Faith Christian in the semifinals Friday.
[divider]
(6) Faith Christian 65, (14) Manual 57
Blair McVicker had 25 points and Jonah Gardner added 20 points, leading the Eagles (19-6) back to the semifinals.
The Eagles are one win away from returning to the state championship, where they lost to Sterling 48-47 a year ago.
Jaedon Bowles had 17 points and nine rebounds for Manual (16-9). The Thunderbolts finished with their third straight winning season.
[divider]
(12) Lutheran 53, (20) Colorado Academy 46
Matthew Thompson scored 17 as the Lions (19-6) moved into the semifinals with a win over the Mustangs (16-9).
Thompson shot 6 of 8 from the field and to lead Lutheran, which shot 51 percent. Justin Kenny added 14 off the bench and Kole Brandon had 11.
DeAnte Dennis led Colorado Academy with 20 points and Alex Mushkin had 16.
[divider]
(1) Sterling 58, (9) Strasburg 23
Sterling’s season is now just two wins away from perfection.
Bodie Hume scored 24 — one more than the Indians (18-7) — and the Tigers (24-0) moved on to the semifinals.
Sterling shot 51 percent from the field and held Strasburg to less than 20 percent shooting.
Baseball’s preseason rankings were unveiled on Monday, and Cherry Creek (5A), Valor Christian (4A), Eaton (3A), Paonia (2A) and Holly (1A) are the top-ranked teams in their respective classifications.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association.
During the regular season, new polls are released each Monday.
Pueblo South 19, Green Mountain 14, Fort Morgan 10, Cheyenne Mountain 9, Denver North 9, Thomas Jefferson 9, Lewis-Palmer 7, Longmont 7, Pueblo East 7, Holy Family 4, Palmer Ridge 4, Canon City 3, Ponderosa 3, Wheat Ridge 2.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Eaton (1)
0-0
81
2
Valley (3)
0-0
70
3
Colorado Academy (3)
0-0
58
4
Lamar (1)
0-0
57
5
Faith Christian
0-0
55
6
La Junta
0-0
51
7
University (2)
0-0
47
8
Delta
0-0
22
9
Bayfield
0-0
21
10
Sterling
0-0
20
Others receiving votes:
Lutheran 18, Peak to Peak 16, Cedaredge 6, Kent Denver 6, Resurrection Christian 5, St. Mary’s 4, Strasburg 4, Alamosa 3, Brush 3, Bishop Machebeuf 1, Manual 1, Montezuma-Cortez 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Paonia (6)
0-0
93
2
Peyton (1)
0-0
74
3
Rocky Ford (1)
0-0
66
4
Lyons (2)
0-0
61
5
Sedgwick County
0-0
45
6
Limon
0-0
42
7
Yuma
0-0
39
8
Hotchkiss
0-0
31
9
Front Range Christian
0-0
28
10
County Line
0-0
23
Others receiving votes:
Burlington 14, Dayspring Christian 8, Dawson 5, Holyoke 4, Swink 4, Crowley County 3, Dolores Huerta 3, Calhan 2, Evangelical Christian 2, Haxtun 2, Sargent 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Holly (6)
0-0
77
2
Fleming (1)
0-0
69
3
Nucla (1)
0-0
60
4
Stratton/Liberty
0-0
40
5
Kiowa
0-0
38
6
Caliche
0-0
30
7
Cotopaxi
0-0
28
8
Granada
0-0
23
9
Denver Jewish Day
0-0
13
10
Eads
0-0
11
Others receiving votes:
Cheyenne Wells 10, Manzanola 8, Otis 8, Rocky Mountain Lutheran 3, Springfield 3, Cornerstone Christian 1, Elbert 1, Peetz 1.
Both 3A tournaments will narrow their fields to eight teams after next weekend. Once they do, they will move to the University of Denver for their Great 8 and beyond on March 8-10.
Kent Denver, which enters at 19-3-0, finished as No. 1 in the final 3A girls RPI standings of the season. The Sun Devils won the Metro League district tournament over the weekend.
Other high seeds in 3A girls include No. 2 Pagosa Springs, No. 3 St. Mary’s, No. 4 Colorado Springs Christian, No. 5 Centauri, No. 6 Cedaredge, No. 7 Sterling and No. 8 Moffat County. Those teams will each host four teams in their quadrant this coming Friday and Saturday.
Lamar, the defending champion, is seeded No. 10 and will play at Sterling’s quadrant.
Those district brackets will also narrow to eight teams for a state tournament field, which will be announced next Sunday. The 2A tournaments are at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, with 1A at Northern Colorado. Both tourneys will play their title games at Budweisier Events Center.
Like 3A, those brackets will play their Great 8 and beyond on March 8-10.
ThunderRidge has moved up to the No. 1 spot in Class 5A in this week’s boys basketball rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
With the regular season set to end on Saturday, these will serve as the final rankings of the regular season.
The 2017 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches across the state.
Players were placed onto the first-team, second-team and honorable mention based upon the number of votes they received. In 5A-1A, spots were reserved for linemen and one kicker/punter, while 8-man reserved spots for linemen.
CHSAA does not determine who makes or doesn’t make the team; they are created entirely from the results of the coaches’ vote.
