Crosby Edwards and the Bayfield High School boys basketball team thought they might have thrown the game away Tuesday night. But Edwards and the Wolverines earned their chance at redemption and didn’t waste it.
With a one-point lead in the final minute, Bayfield was content on its home floor to try to pass the ball around and burn clock without the existence of a shot clock in Colorado high school basketball. But Edwards had a pass go off the hands and over the head of fellow senior Kacey Chandler and out of bounds to give the ball back to the visiting rival Pagosa Springs Pirates.
The Pirates went to senior forward Aidan O’Donnell, as they had much of the night, and O’Donnell broke open for a layup on an inbounds pass from Mitch Lewis to give the visiting team a 54-53 lead, while O’Donnell reached a game-high 29 points in the process.
But Bayfield got another chance, and the ball again found the hands of Edwards. He got a screen from Chandler and looked to drive inside before he pulled the ball back out. But Edwards immediately penetrated the Pagosa Springs defense once more before he elevated and let a mid-range jump shot fly. It was good, and it sent the Bayfield High School boys basketball team to a critical 55-54 victory.
“I elevated, and in the air I had a decision to make,” Edwards said. “I saw a guy on the baseline who was open, or I could take the shot. I took the shot, and it went in for us. It was amazing. My legs were shaking when I came back down to the floor, and my heart was pounding. It always feels great to hit a game winner. It’s what kids dream of.”
Pagosa Springs had only a few seconds to try to respond, and O’Donnell raced up the floor and initiated contact with Bayfield’s Landon Kennedy to try to draw a foul. But the referees let the game be decided on the shot, and O’Donnell’s fade-away attempt was no good at the buzzer.
“It was good defense,” BHS head coach Klint Chandler said. “We always talk in those situations about making them shoot a jump shot and don’t give them a layup, and we did that.”
It was a wild end to a brilliant game from both teams, which were tied at 43-43 after three quarters. Lewis opened the fourth with five consecutive points for the Pirates (4-4, 2-3 3A Intermountain League). But Bayfield (4-3, 2-2 IML) was back within 50-49 on back-to-back baskets from Hunter Bayles, and Kennedy gave BHS the lead at 51-50 with a pair of free throws with 2:57 to play.
With 1:44 to go, O’Donnell missed the front-end of a one-and-one free-throw situation, and Bayfield got the rebound and pushed it up the floor. Kennedy would spin into the lane and make a layup to give BHS a 53-50 lead.
O’Donnell answered right back with a miraculous basket while falling to the ground from 14 feet away, and Bayfield’s lead was cut to one before the Wolverines went into keep-away mode.
But the BHS turnover led to Pagosa Springs’ beautiful inbounds play that gave the Pirates the 54-53 lead.
“After we were up and lost a lead on something stupid like passing the ball out of bounds and then losing a guy on defense, it was demoralizing and it felt like the game was over,” Edwards said. “To go down and have sort of an out-of-body experience and see my shot go down after all of that, it was amazing. I couldn’t have been more excited to win that for my teammates against that team. We were all looking for a win to try to get into the playoffs.”
Kennedy led BHS with 15 points, while Bayles had 11. Edwards and Quintan Hunter each scored eight, and Kacey Chandler finished with seven.
Edwards was credited with a controversial two-point basket to end the first quarter after the buzzer had sounded.
Along with O’Donnell’s 29 points, Lewis scored 18 for the Pirates, as they combined for all but seven of the points for Pagosa Springs.
“This was a fun game. It’s a big deal for these kids to be out here competing, and I am glad for that,” coach Chandler said.
BHS was hungry for the win to get back to 2-2 in the highly-contested IML with fifth-ranked Centauri (6-0, 3-0 IML) slated to visit Bayfield at 6 p.m. Friday.
“Pagosa is a great team with some hot scorers like we saw tonight,” Edwards said. “When we get going in transition, we get fired up and start winning games. I think we have figured that out along with some of our other kinks, and I think that will help us as a team elevate into the playoffs. We are a big momentum team and want to keep this going.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
