ALAMOSA - Ten full days removed from their last outing, the surprising Bayfield boys basketball team hoped for another win Tuesday against Alamosa.
But early in the second quarter, the look of disbelief seen upon junior guard Taed Heydinger's face after a questionable technical foul call pretty well summarized whose house it was.
Alamosa's.
Mean Moose Ryan Brubacher began the game on a personal 6-0 run before Zane Phelps got BHS on the board with two points. Brubacher countered with a basket of his own and his first two freethrows for a 10-2 advantage, which stood 13-2 at the end of the first quarter. Bayfield never came close in losing the teams' Intermountain League opener 63-42.
"We didn't rise to the intensity level tonight," said Head Coach Jeff Lehnus. "It was a learning experience; we'll respond to this adversity.
He continued: "Yeah, things snowballed, but to be quite honest though, they played well, but we weren't playing well in almost every phase for whatever reason."
"This team was one basket away from the 'Final Four' last year and they got all their guys back," he continued. "They're a good team and they've been playing tough competition against Metro League teams a lot."
Four points from Phelps, four from senior guard Trevor Gabbard and a trey from Heydinger got the Wolverines into double figures by the badly-needed halftime. Alamosa canned a three-pointer late for an insurmountable 31-13 lead through 16 regulation minutes.
BHS' 16-point third had pulled them back to 48-29.
"We got humbled, if anything, in the first half," said Lehnus. "The second half was a three-point ball game, and that's what we focus on. There wasn't a single phase that went well that first half, and.obviously I have to do a better job having them prepared for this."
Gabbard finished with a team-high nine points, Phelps and Heydinger each netted eight, senior center Preston Hardy posted six and senior guard Conner Kennedy registered five.
Milner finished with his aforementioned nine points for Alamosa (7-4, 1-0 IML), Clayton Brubacher totaled eight and Marco Garcia six as nine of head coach Brandon Brubacher's eleven Moose earned scorebook ink.
Up next the Wolverines (7-2, 0-1) will return to the San Luis Valley tonight to meet Monte Vista. Alamosa will host Centauri in a night of league battles.
"We need to learn some things, and we will," Lehnus stated. "You could tell they had experienced success-we're finding how to do that. I expect a quality rebound effort from this team Friday at Monte Vista."
