With Bayfield girls basketball leading the visiting Durango junior varsity 41-40 with time rapidly disappearing off the clock, DHS sophomore Annwyn Austin was sent to the free-throw line with 6.3 seconds left and a chance to snatch victory.
Unsuccessful on her first shot, Austin sank the second and the Demons then forced a turnover shortly after BHS’ inbounds pass, and prepared to inbound from the far sideline with 0:00.9 remaining. Sophomore Teagan Kroeger was able to both receive the rock and let fly a mid-range jumper from the baseline, but the score stayed knotted at 41.
Durango pulled away in overtime for the 55-43 win.
Kieley White Thunder had put the Wolverines up 19-18 at halftime after being fouled by Kroeger with 5.7 ticks left in the second stanza and making one of two FTs. But energized by 3-pointers courtesy junior Grier Metz and sophomore Sandy Geyer, DHS surged ahead to a 29-21 lead with 2:53 left in the third quarter and soon started the fourth up 32-26.
Bayfield, meanwhile, didn’t start it well; just 26 ticks into the fourth, junior guard Vivien Clance crashed hard onto the BHS Gymnasium court and slowly walked off holding the right side of her forehead. She would not return but somehow Bayfield found new and needed motivation.
White Thunder hit a clutch three, and sophomore Natalie Osendorf, who’d replaced Clance, netted a 2-pointer bringing the Wolverines back to 32-31 with 6:01 left. Durango head coach Matt Bong used a timeout, but Bayfield continued pressing ahead and went up 35-32 via a put-back by junior Kimball Anderson.
BHS boss Ben Martinez used a timeout with 3:07 to go and his squad holding a 39-34 advantage, but a 3-point play and six total fourth-quarter points from freshman Ayla Provenchar fueled a late rally bringing the guests back to 41-40 with 45.6 seconds left.
Anderson would foul out with 3:52 left in the four-minute overtime, and DHS went up 47-43 with 2:19 to go thanks to a Provenchar free throw.
But the Demons paid it no mind and continued attacking, then applying full-court pressure defensively. As a result, Bayfield senior Arriyanna Cundiff-Huerta fouled out with 1:01 left, and Brown officially did likewise with 0:38.7 remaining as Durango increased its lead.
Finishing 7-of-12 from the foul line (from which Durango ended up 8-of-15 in OT, and 19-of-35 overall), Provenchar totaled a game-high 19 points, and Austin (7-12 FT) booked 15.
White Thunder (6-13 FT) paced Bayfield with 13 points, and Brown totaled 11 points with at least as many boards.
The Wolverines (1-2 overall) will next travel east to the Rye Holiday Classic on Thursday-Saturday and face Pueblo West-based Swallows Charter Academy (0-4 overall) on Day 1 at 5 p.m.
FINE DAY AWAY: Energized by seven first-quarter points from both Clance and Anderson, the Wolverines led non-league Creede 19-12 through one quarter Friday afternoon and separated steadily in winning 44-31 on the road.
Despite making only two of 14 tries from the charity stripe, Clance still ended up totaling 16 points in BHS’ first victory of the ’25-26 season. Anderson ended up with 11 points and White Thunder booked eight
After going off for a dozen first-quarter points, CHS (3-2 overall) fell off in the second and went into halftime down 24-15, then lost more ground in the third quarter as the fourth commenced with BHS up 38-22.
