BAYFIELD - Bayfield waited a quarter century for what happened Saturday night.
Playing in front of a raucous crowd, the Bayfield High School boys basketball team hosted Alamosa High School on Saturday in the Class 3A Intermountain League district tournament championship game. It was the team’s first appearance in a league title game since 2006, a game it lost to Pagosa Springs.
Seeking their first district tournament win since 1992, the Wolverines delivered in dramatic fashion, as a Keyon Prior shot fell with 2.1 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to give Bayfield a 56-54 win against the Mean Moose of Alamosa.
The last time BHS won a league title, Prior’s father, Kevin, was on the team.
“At the end of quarters and games, coach puts faith in me to make something happen off the dribble,” Prior said. “My shot was there, so I took it and it fell.”
It was redemption for Prior, who had a chance to extend a two-point BHS lead with less than 30 seconds remaining. But he missed the front-end of a one-and-one situation, and Alamosa got the rebound. Ryan Phelps tried to tie up the ball with Alamosa’s Angelo Ramirez, but he was whistled for a foul and sent Ramirez to the line for two free throws with 24 seconds to play. Ramirez made both free throws to tie the game at 54.
Bayfield (15-6) called a timeout to draw up a play. Prior dribbled the ball up the floor, and it was passed around to several players who couldn’t get a clean look. The ball found Prior’s hands again, and he took a quick look and saw 7.6 seconds on the scoreboard. He drove the lane and threw up a running floater that banked off the backboard and through the hoop.
“I said, ‘Please drive. Please drive.’” BHS junior guard Dax Snooks said. “I saw the shot go up, clutched my fists and screamed when it went in.”
The buzzer sounded, but the Mean Moose bench got a timeout in immediately, and the referees put 2.1 seconds on the board. Alamosa tried to inbound the ball deep but was denied and had to throw it in short. Will Perkins got the ball and drove quickly and heaved a long shot, but it never had a chance.
“As a program, this win means everything,” said BHS sophomore Hayden Farmer, who had 14 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. “As little kids, we’ve been dreaming about playing basketball with each other. Alamosa, it’s always Alamosa. They’ve beat us forever. We had the thought this year, the heck with them. We’re done with them. It’s our turn. That was the mentality all year.”
BHS had only beat Alamosa three times since 2009, including another close one at home earlier this year. Alamosa is now 18-3 with two losses to the Wolverines.
After the game, BHS cut down the nets in the gym.
“Two years ago we won regionals, and they don’t give ya nothing for winning regionals,” BHS head coach Jeff Lehnus said. “So we came in after the season and cut the nets down. We started the process then of thinking we can do this kind of thing. It’s nice to officially do it. I’m so proud of the team and so happy for the community.”
BHS was almost without its only senior in Brian Mashak, who was banged up after taking a hard foul a night earlier in a semifinal win against Centauri. BHS junior McKay Wells was inserted into the starting lineup and delivered in a big way with 11 points and several big plays. Mashak did play in limited minutes, showing his unquestioned toughness.
“I just wanted to play for Brian,” Wells said. “Play for my team and do the best I could. It was super fun, and this was special. It’s always fun when you accomplish your dreams with your friends.”
BHS star forward Ryan Phelps finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. He also came up with several key steals, one that led to a breakaway dunk.
There was a fourth-quarter flurry in which Ryan Brubacher, who scored eight points through three quarters but finished with 19, hit back-to-back 3s for Alamosa between 3s from Wells and Phelps. Noah Romero added 13 points for the Moose.
But every time Alamosa cut into the lead, the Wolverines seemed to have an answer.
Prior finished with 10 points for BHS. Snooks had eight, none bigger than the 3 that gave BHS a 53-50 lead in the fourth.
Now, BHS will host a 3A regional tournament Friday and Saturday. It’s single elimination, with the winner of each regional making the Elite Eight round of the state tournament.
“We’re not satisfied,” Farmer said. “We can’t be. We’re a bunch of competitors, and we want to win. The goal is to make it to state and do even bigger things.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
