The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate basketball team will be looking to close out the regular season on a high note Saturday, when the team welcomes the 3A Bayfield Wolverines to town.
That high note could also include the return of Colt Lewis to the lineup following injury, which coach Wes Lewis indicated could change a lot and help solve some of the team’s problems.
“It’s a grind,” he said, adding, “I think the thing with this team is I think one night we show up and we ... have the right attitude and work ethic and desire and we look really good.”
Then, days later, he continued, it looks like a different team.
He added the team works to focus on the good and talk about the bad to learn from it.
“It’s just kind of one of those years,” he said. “We really hope that the ... good version of ourselves shows up.”
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Pagosa Springs High School.
The Pirates fell prey to the Wolverines in the teams’ last matchup, with Bayfield winning 49-44 on Jan. 31.
The Wolverines are 13-8 overall and 6-4 in league play. They’re the No. 23 team in the Colorado 3A boys’ basketball standings.
The Pirates are heading into the final regular-season game as the No. 30 team in the 4A standings.
The 32-team playoff brackets will be seeded Sunday, with regional action taking place March 7 and 8.
The Pirates picked up a win and two losses over the last week, leaving them with a 7-15 overall record and 4-7 league mark.
Action over the last week started with a narrow 51-48 win over the 2A Sanford Mustangs.
“That was a good win for us, one of our better wins of the year,” Wes Lewis said.
The Pirates found themselves down 21-15 at the end of the first quarter, but outscored the Mustangs 14-8 in the second to lead 29-28 at halftime.
The Pirates again outscored the Mustangs in the third to lead 40-38 heading into the game’s final quarter, where they secured the 51-48 win.
“I thought we were really good defensively and our zone frustrated them,” the coach said, adding, “I think it was a good team win and it was ... a fun game to be a part of. The kids played well.”
The Mustangs are now 16-5 on the season and sit as the No. 8 team in the 2A standings.
The following day, the Pirates traveled to La Jara to take on the league-leading Centauri Falcons.
The Pirates ultimately fell 56-20 in the affair after being outscored in each quarter: 20-10, 15-2, 12-8 and 9-0, respectively.
“They’re a very good team and they’re very well coached,” Wes Lewis said of the Falcons, adding, “We struggled to find ways to get the ball in the hole.”
He added the Pirates had “way too many” turnovers.
“That’s kind of been what’s plagued us in our losses is our turnover count gets catastrophic,” he said.
The coach also highlighted the Falcons’ play this season.
“Centauri, they’re the cream of the crop this year as far as the Intermountain League,” he said.
The Falcons are now 22-0 overall and 11-0 in league play and sit as the No. 4 team in 3A basketball.
On Tuesday, the Pirates traveled to Alamosa to make up the game originally scheduled for Feb. 14 that was postponed due to inclement weather, with the team returning home on the losing end of the 47-44 score.
Pagosa led 12-8 at the end of the first and 21-13 at halftime, but were outscored by the Mean Moose 17-8 in the third and 17-15 in the fourth to turn the tables and leave the Pirates’ with a three-point loss.
“No. 1, we just didn’t play very good,” Wes Lewis said. “That’s the truth of the matter.”
The coach explained the Pirates didn’t capitalize on many opportunities, missed a lot of easy shots and had about 22 turnovers.
“[We] just didn’t finish around the cup, didn’t take care of the basketball. We got in some foul trouble that didn’t help us,” he said, calling the officiating “frustrating.” “But, at the end of the day, no matter what the officiating was, we still had our opportunities. I mean, we lose a close one and we miss, you know, probably 20 bunnies — that’s 40 points — you have 22 turnovers ... I’ll take credit for it. The buck stops with me. I obviously didn’t have the guys ready to play. We didn’t play well, and I guess that falls back on me.”
Additional stats from the games were not available by press time Wednesday.
randi@pagosasun.com
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