Team shows improvement against San Juan
Bayfield head coach Lauren Moran instructs her college team on Friday against Ignacio at BHS high school. (Joel Priest / Special to the Herald)
After losing 65 points on their last gig, which ended their stint at the Shannon Johnson Classic in Vernal, Utah, the San Juan Lady Broncos were fortunate to have two weeks of rest and practice before facing another Opponents faced.
Bayfield senior Jordan Martindale dribbled through pressure from Ignacio on Friday. The Wolverines played better in Utah on Saturday but fell short against San Juan. (Joel Priest / Special to the Herald)
Joel Priest / Special to the Herald
Fortunately, that opponent – Bayfield – joined them on Saturday.
To recover from her own bitter setback, last night’s 57-16 home loss to Ignacio, BHS senior coach Lauren Moran mentioned that her squad had played better than the voracious Lady Bobcats, despite her in Blanding, Utah, was 55 years old -27.
“I definitely believe that our inside play is our strength,” she said, “and we couldn’t use that as well as I would have hoped. We struggled with their pressure, of course, but tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully we will continue to try to play to our strengths and improve our weaknesses. “
“It’s definitely a learning experience for me too, as I’ve never been a head coach before,” added Moran. “But I think I’ve got really good support from (assistant coaches) Jamie (Wursten) and Tiarra (Christensen) and the girls are buying in. So I feel pretty good about it. “
“We’re all pretty close and … communicate well, but we need to break the kinks,” said Senior Abby Tate. “I think we’re doing pretty well. … But this year it will definitely be a learning process. “
“It’s always a tough game,” said Senior Jordan Martindale of his trip to SJHS. “I just hope that if we bring more together and trust each other, we’ll get better as a team.”
Building a nine-point lead, 14-5, after a quarter and raising it to 15, 29-14, at halftime, fourth-year captain Laura Stearns’ team played a stingy defense that narrowed BHS (0 -6 total, 0- 0 CHSAA 3A Intermountain) to single digit points in each verse as they hand out their own offensive production.
Junior Kaeahliyah Howard scored 21 points in the game. Junior Serina Yanito booked 11, Senior Halli Palmer added 10, and sophomore Shaylin Nez contributed seven for UHSAA Class 2A San Juan, which improved to 2-5 overall.
Held at seven points by IHS (3-3, 0-0 2A / 1A San Juan Basin), Tate scored 12 against the Lady Broncos, including four free throws in seven tries. Martindale posted five points and the second Michelle Kirk and junior Abria Thayer scored four each.
“We just need to get to know each other better,” said Martindale, “so we can all play our games … on the court.”
Bayfield boys fall to San Juan, 94-40
With 25-8 in the first eight minutes in Blanding, Bayfield went into halftime behind SJHS 48-19 and was really never close with a road loss of 54 points.
Denied an 18-8 overall score of four points at the UHSAA / Mountain America Class 3A Boys Basketball State Championship last winter, the hungry and talented Broncos – who were downgraded to 2A this year – improved to 6 with the win: 1.
Senior guard Ladd Ivins has sunk four out of a total of 14 threesomes and has reportedly scored a total of 19 points for SJHS, with senior striker Jace Palmer (18) and senior guard Cooper Black (17) providing excellent support.
Numbers for Bayfield (1-5, 0-0 3A Intermountain) were not yet available at the time of going to press.
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