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Wolverines rally on road, defeating Cortez 66-57

Phelps scores 9 late in game to bring in league win

Gambling against his man receiving a disqualifying fifth personal foul, Jeff Lehnus had little choice but to re-insert big junior Ryan Phelps during a timeout with 4:45 left in Tuesday's intensifying clash at Montezuma-Cortez.

Bayfield had come too far to be denied a split of the 3A Intermountain League title. Lehnus had to put Phelps back in, particularly after Cortez scored two, re-energizing M-CHS' Senior/Parent Appreciation Night crowd while it re-regained the Panthers a 50-49 lead.

"Their home, their Senior/Parent Night, they're a good team, you know?" Lehnus said. "We had to beat them at the buzzer at our place, so they came out better than we did. But championship teams find a way to win."

Sophomore Turner Kennedy's three-pointer as the first half expired stunned M-CHS, its once-blooming 16-7 lead early in the second quarter completely withered down to nothing at 32-32. A Phelps drop-step to the hoop then got the third quarter underway, sparking a go-ahead 8-0 burst that threatened to critically demoralize the reeling Panthers.

But a triple by senior substitute sniper Quanah Casey and subsequent pull-up jumper by junior regular Obed Simental ultimately erased the Wolverines' 46-40 lead held after the third quarter. Suddenly trailing 47-46 with 6:16 remaining, BHS junior Dax Snooks emerged from a Lehnus timeout to drain an essential three from the near corner. That disrupted Montezuma-Cortez's drive and provided the guests a mental pick-me-up, as well as a 49-47 lead.

Still, the Panthers weren't even thinking of surrendering.

Re-enter Phelps.

After the timeout caused by a Cortez basket, Phelps registered six consecutive points and later sank three free throws in four tries during the final minutes to clinch a 66-57 road win. Phelps scored a game-high of 20 points.

"Ryan did a good job," Lehnus said. "He'd got four fouls, I had to put him in with five minutes to go, and he didn't get the fifth. We weren't maintaining a balance to our offense; we weren't getting the ball into our posts very much, and we emphasized that in the second half."

Free throws were critical in the game, as well.

"We hadn't made free throws real well, so finally in the fourth we made some and got some separation," Lehnus noted, of Bayfield's 9-of-12 charity-stripe accuracy late-boosting the squad's final figure to a so-so 16-of-28.

"We got home-towned in our hometown? I don't know," M-CHS head coach Michael Hall said, trying to explain the enemy's ability to get to the free-throw line. That resulted in junior Jasen Engel fouling out with 2:03 remaining and BHS sophomore Hayden Farmer (11 points) sinking two painful free throws.

Senior Brian Mashak and sophomore Keyon Prior each scored eight points for the surging Wolverines (13-6, 9-1), winners of a sixth straight outing. Kennedy finished with seven, junior McKay Wells booked a quality six off the bench, Snooks totaled five and junior Carl Heide contributed one.

"Everybody, again, played a role in this," Lehnus said. "We had an objective - looking at where we were seven days ago - and we wanted to go beat Pagosa on the road. Then we wanted to beat Alamosa, and then we wanted to win this. So that trifecta, and to be co-league champion right now, that's a wonderful accomplishment."

Having handled PSHS 67-47 and avoided a 17-point meltdown to edge AHS (17-2, 9-1) 65-62 last Friday on Senior Night, Bayfield will take great pride in hosting next weekend's IML District Tournament but will also be wary of the foes they're facing.

"The first-round game - it could be them!" Lehnus said, referring to a possible third wild go-round with Montezuma-Cortez. "So we wanted to make sure we came and played hard here tonight, try to make a statement."

"We have to be prepared," he emphasized. "We have nine days off, so we'll be scrimmaging Durango on Tuesday to keep our edge - don't want to lose that!"