Conifer – Tradition and expectations have hovered painfully low for years with the Conifer boys basketball team.
Riding a carousel of new coaches, the Lobos have learned new offenses and heard varying forms of a new commitment to winning of late.
All of those factors were in play Friday against Cherokee Trail, but the Lobos looked like a team ready to buy into coach Jeff DeBuhr’s philosophies as they hammered the previously unbeaten Cougars 64-49 in a Class 4A nonleague matchup.
The Lobos (5-3) never trailed and connected on 6-of-15 attempts from beyond the 3-point line in the first half en route to a 40-19 halftime lead.
“Our new coach really thrives on having us come up here and play the way that we can,” senior Jeff Dolan said. “That’s how we’re going to start playing Conifer basketball. We came out with some fire and just didn’t let up from there.”
Four Lobos scored in double figures, led by Dolan’s 15 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Zane Womeldorph scored 12 points, Magnus Gordon added 11 points and blocked two shots and 6-foot-3 senior Sam Hicok had 11 points and nine rebounds as Conifer won its third straight.
“We’re starting to figure things out,” said DeBuhr, previously a longtime Evergreen assistant coach. “We’re starting to play the game our way and it’s working.”
Everything was working early on as the Cougars (4-1) turned the ball over six times in the first quarter, shot 2-for-11 from the field and trailed 10-0 less than three minutes into the game.
The Lobos’ variation of the Princeton-style half-court set kept four shooters outside, worked the ball into the high post and used a variety of picks to slash to the hoop. Conifer led 20-7 at the end of the first quarter on Womeldorph’s 3-pointer from the top of the key and was up by 21 on Gordon’s baseline 3-pointer just before halftime.
Cherokee Trail shot 17-of-58 from the field. Jimmy Hayes sank four 3-pointers to lead the Cougars with 16 points, while Cyrus Durham had 10 points and Micah Green grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Cougars outscored Conifer 18-10 in the third quarter but got closer than 11.
Cougars coach Brad Dorais said he hoped the loss would serve as a learning process for a third-year program that has just 16 victories in its previous two seasons and has yet to make the playoffs.
“It’s just one of those things,” Dorais said. “Who knows what it is? Obviously, we played harder in the second half than we did the first half. That’s what we talked about afterward, it’s got to be start to finish.”
Cherokee Trail 7 12 18 12 – 49
Conifer 20 20 10 14 – 64
Cherokee Trail – Brundage 1 3-6 5, Green 0 3-5 3, Durham 5 0-0 10, Goggins 0 1-2 1, Hayes 6 0-0 16, Banks 2 1-2 5, Martin 2 1-4 7, Smith 0 0-0 0, Gregory 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 9-19 49.
Conifer – Womeldorph 5 1-1 12, Eddy 3 1-2 8, Dolan 4 4-4 15, Hicok 4 3-5 11, Gordon 4 0-0 11, Challis 3 0-0 6, Gorrell 0 0-0 0, Karford 0 1-2 1, Bibeau 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 10-14 64.
3-point goals – Hayes 4, Martin 2; Dolan 3, Gordon 3, Eddy, Womeldorph. Total fouls – Cherokee Trail 18, Conifer 19. Fouled out – Brundage; Eddy. Technicals – None.
