{"id":42877,"date":"2022-01-06T16:40:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T23:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/host-wolverines-hope-for-fresh-start-at-classic\/"},"modified":"2022-01-06T23:40:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T23:40:00","slug":"host-wolverines-hope-for-fresh-start-at-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/host-wolverines-hope-for-fresh-start-at-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Host Wolverines hope for fresh start at Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Bayfield\u2019s
Bayfield\u2019s Landon Kennedy (32) leaps for a shot against Centauri last season inside BHS Gymnasium. The high-flying senior will lead the Wolverines into this weekend's BHS-hosted 2022 Four Corners Southwest Classic. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

At long last, Bayfield\u2019s boys will face competition on their home court.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s about the only plus the Wolverines will be guaranteed at this weekend\u2019s Four Corners Southwest Classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been good getting back in the gym; we\u2019ve just got to keep getting better,\u201d said head coach Klint Chandler. \u201cWe\u2019re young, you know? So we\u2019ve got to keep working on getting better each day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bayfield
Bayfield basketball head coach Klint Chandler pumps up the Wolverines in a timeout during last season\u2019s Four Corners Southwest Classic, hosted by Durango. BHS will host the tournament's 2022 edition on Friday and Saturday. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe first part is getting to play at home for the first time,\u201d he said, \u201cwhich\u2019ll be nice, instead of (being) on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having played at Eaton, Buena Vista, Farmington and Blanding, Utah, Chandler\u2019s developing crew \u2013 1-5 overall and 0-0 3A Intermountain \u2013 will welcome 2A Ignacio, 3A Montezuma-Cortez and 4A Durango to BHS Gymnasium for varsity and junior-varsity action Friday and Saturday in the classic.<\/p>\n

IHS and M-CHS will tip the tourney\u2019s varsity-level portion off on Day 1 at 5 p.m. Friday, with Bayfield-Durango to follow about 7 p.m. Day 2 will get underway with DHS vs. M-CHS at 1 p.m., Saturday, with Ignacio-Bayfield following.<\/p>\n

\"Ignacio\u2019s
Ignacio\u2019s Gabe Tucson grins before road action at Mancos earlier in his career. Now a senior and one of Class 2A\u2019s highest per-game scorers, Tucson will lead the Bobcats into the Four Corners Southwest Classic on Friday and Saturday. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The junior varsity tournament will be played in BHS\u2019 auxiliary gym. Friday action will include BHS and DHS at 5 p.m., and IHS and M-CHS at 7 p.m. Saturday will feature BHS and IHS battling at 1 p.m., followed by Durango and M-CHS.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s going to go well,\u201d Chandler said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to show up and protect our house. Hopefully we\u2019ll be ready!\u201d<\/p>\n

Having faced opponents owning an aggregate 32-21 record going into Thursday\u2019s games, the Wolverines \u2013 featuring seniors Landon Kennedy and Isaac Ross, and junior Lance Mazur \u2013 average 45.8 points per game, but concede 69.<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma-Cortez's
Montezuma-Cortez's Sawyer Smith (23) explodes to the basket through a Durango Demon during last season's DHS-hosted Four Corners Southwest Classic. The Panthers will come to Bayfield Friday and Saturday looking to stop a three-game slide. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Last season\u2019s Classic host, Durango (5-5, 0-0 4A\/5A Southwestern) most recently went 0-3 at 5A Farmington\u2019s Dec. 16-18 Marv Sanders Invitational, including a two-point loss to state 4A semifinalist Gallup, then a four-point loss to 4A Bloomfield, N.M. A larger 67-43 loss to FHS wasn\u2019t too surprising; the Scorpions not only won all three of their tourney games, but as of Thursday had since improved to 11-1 overall.<\/p>\n

\"Jacob
Jacob Neubert of Durango High School battles in the key while playing Pagosa Springs earlier this season. The Demons will return to action Friday and Saturday at the Four Corners Southwest Classic in Bayfield. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019ve got Durango, and it\u2019ll be good. They\u2019re big, you know, and we\u2019re not,\u201d said Chandler, alluding to Alan Batiste\u2019s roster boasting six Demons listed at 6-feet-4 or bigger, led by 6-foot-6 senior Walter Stauffer and 6-foot-6 sophomore Jacob Neubert. \u201cBut like I said, we\u2019re just young, and I think we\u2019re going to have to go through some ups and downs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the kids didn\u2019t play basketball last year, so they\u2019re back at it this year,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re good. I like \u2019em because they play hard and compete. We\u2019re coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like DHS, Michael Hall\u2019s M-CHS Panthers (2-3, 0-0 IML) will check in having lost three straight at Grand Junction\u2019s Dec. 16-18 Tiger Invite. Chris Valdez\u2019s IHS Bobcats (2-2, 0-0 2A\/1A San Juan Basin) will look to have built up some momentum the night before, beginning SJBL play at home versus optimistic 1A Dove Creek (4-2, 0-0 SJBL) on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Since Bayfield and Cortez both play in the IML, they won\u2019t face each other in the Four Corners Southwest Classic. If two teams go 2-0, point differential will decide the champion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

tough competition at first home games <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[600],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-basketball"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42877"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}