Alamosa bests Pagosa in district play

MONTE VISTA — In a semifinal matchup, Alamosa topped Pagosa Springs by a score of 45-34.

Alamosa (16-4) drew a first-round bye after going undefeated in the league and taking the first seed in the tournament. Pagosa’s victory over Monte Vista meant the Pagosa Pirates (10-11) would be Alamosa’s opponent on Thursday night.

Alamosa’s Donovan Ramirez got his team started with two buckets to put the home designated Mean Moose up 4-0. Ramirez would score a third basket to lead Alamosa in scoring in the first quarter with 6 points to help put the Moose up 14-10 after 1.

In the second quarter, the Pirates looked to grind the pace way down limiting scoring to Alamosa’s Lincoln Tuioti-Mariner and Pagosa Springs’ Mason Snarr with a basket each. That is until Alamosa’s Ian Jackson went on a run stringing together 7 unanswered points to send the Moose to the break leading 23-13.

Facing a double-digit deficit in the second half Pagosa utilized the distance game with Kyler Hammer and Mitch Lewis each cashing in on a 3-pointer. It wasn’t enough to combat Alamosa’s sheer volume, 4 points each from Isaiah Harrell and Tuioti-Mariner helped send Alamosa to the final 8 minutes leading 35-23.

Pagosa Springs would get the first 6 points of the final quarter and would outscore Alamosa 11-10 but would not overcome the lead Alamosa had built. Alamosa’s Brenden Crowther took the lead in scoring for Alamosa posting 11 points in the win. Crowther was followed in scoring by teammates Ian Jackson and Donovan Ramirez who each posted 9 points Thursday night.

The win sends Alamosa to the IML boys basketball championship game on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Centauri rolls over Bayfield in semifinals

MONTE VISTA — In a one-sided game it was the two seed, Centauri, that got an easier path to the championship game. The Falcons (18-2) belted Bayfield 61-31 thanks to a second-half avalanche. The Falcons earned a first-round bye in district play thanks to coming in second behind Alamosa.  Bayfield (4-17) extended their season by shocking the defending IML champions, Montezuma-Cortez, 65-63 on the road.

When the action got underway Bayfield looked like the team that had earned their way on to the court. The Falcons struck first, Mason Claunch scored 5 unanswered and Centauri as a team chugged right along to a 13-2 lead midway through the first quarter. Then Bayfield struck back, Crosby Edwards and Kacey Chandler each contributed a 3-pointer to a 10-2 run for Bayfield to close the first quarter with Centauri in control 15-12. Following a 5-point spurt from Centauri’s Baron Holman, the Wolverines resumed running at max capacity. Edwards led a 10-point charge from the designated visiting team and Bayfield would take their first lead of the game at 22-20. It would also be their only lead of the game, Bayfield seemingly blew their engine. Ten unanswered points from Centauri to close the half and the Falcons went to the break with the lead, 30-22, and all of the momentum. Centauri ran wild in the second half outscoring the Wolverines 15-3 in the third quarter and 16-6 in a fourth-quarter manned by the Falcon reserves. Centauri’s Cody Bagwell and Baron Holman tied for the lead in scoring with 10 points. The win sends the Falcons to the IML Championship game for a one-two matchup where they’ll meet Alamosa. The Mean Moose own the edge in the regular-season series taking both meetings by an average 11-point margin. Alamosa-Centauri III is set for Saturday in Monte Vista at 7:30 p.m.