No late heroics were needed this time around.
But a buzzer-beater, buried at the end of the first quarter Tuesday night, had just about the same effect.
Having regained their first lead, at 12-10 with 3:04 left (via a three-pointer from junior guard Dax Snooks), since sophomore forward Hayden Farmer's game-opening three, Bayfield appeared to still be looking for a game-breaking play. Junior center Ryan Phelps' unplanned trey, launched from almost right in front of Pagosa Springs Head Coach Randy Sorenson, served that purpose.
"I'm just glad that we could get another shot up, and it went in!" Phelps said, recalling the seemingly-broken play and improvised ball movement out to the deep wing. "So it was good."
"That helped a lot," agreed Snooks, before offering another explanation as to how the visiting Wolverines' 23-14 lead after eight minutes would grow to 67-47 after the full 32. "What happened really, was, we were not rebounding very well, and when we came into the locker room Coach kind of snapped on us, got after us. And we got motivated 'like that.'"
Pirate junior Keaton Laverty converted a two-and-one play beginning the second quarter, but Phelps would later steal back any momentum PSHS may have been building when inside the last two minutes he not only ripped a rebound away from an unsuspecting Laverty, then promptly canned another triple to put BHS up 30-23 at halftime.
Farmer began the third quarter with a 16-foot jumper from the near elbow, and the teams would post a combined 15 points in just 1:41, but Bayfield (11-6, 7-1 3A Intermountain) still led 39-29. Consecutive lay-ins by Pagosa Springs junior guard/forward Isaiah Griego forced Coach Jeff Lehnus into a timeout with 2:50 remaining, and the boys would respond, despite still owning a 45-33 advantage.
"Our plan was just to come out fast, knock them off their game," said Phelps, who led BHS with 18 points, "and that's what we did."
Ending the third and starting the fourth quarters on a 15-4 run, the Wolverines left the Pirates (7-9, 3-5) little hope of rallying, particularly with senior posts Lane Schaaf and Ethan Brown both in foul trouble. Schaaf would foul out, in fact, with 4:49 left in the game. Brown (7 points) managed to play with four personals, but PSHS also lost senior guard Zach DeVooght (5 points) to a fifth with 0:59 remaining.
Griego finished with a game-best 19 points in defeat, and Laverty totaled seven.
Farmer and sophomore guard Keyon Prior-hero of the teams' previous battle-each logged 12 points for Bayfield, and Snooks (11) and senior guard Brian Mashak (10) also reached double figures, though BHS' aggression yielded just 12-of-25 free-throw accuracy (PSHS finished 6-of-8).
Up next, Bayfield hosts IML force Alamosa on Friday for Senior Night. The Mean Moose began the week having risen one spot to #4 in the CHSAANow.com Class 3A rankings (issued Feb. 6), while the Wolverines stood tied with Broomfield Jefferson Academy for second in the poll's 'Others Receiving Votes' segment.
"It feels great," Phelps said of the road win and season sweep of Pagosa Springs. "Knowing that we can blow people off the floor like that, it gives us that confidence that we can beat Alamosa."
Still 8-0 in league, AHS improved to 16-1 overall with a 61-52 non-league win at Buena Vista (8-7, 4-4 3A Tri-Peaks) Tuesday night.
