Bayfield head coach Lana Killough certainly asked her team the right question in their huddle before starting the second half of last Friday's Intermountain League contest versus Pagosa Springs:
"What's the score?" she said, getting a mostly-unified reply of, "Zero, zero!"
And for the next two quarters, the Wolverines played as though the action was just beginning.
Shaking off the fact that Class 3A's sixth-ranked (CHSAANow.com poll, Jan. 16) squad had already ridden junior guard/forward Morgan Lewis and sophomore guard Devin Wilson out to leads of 21-1 after eight minutes and 30-6 after 16, BHS traded more evenly with its opponent and lost the second half by a combined 20-19 margin.
With Lewis, who was shaken up late in the game and wisely benched by boss Wes Lewis, easily totaling 10 first-quarter points and 19 all told, the Pirates claimed the game 50-25, but not before Bayfield (3-8, 0-3 IML) again flashed its potential by posting a motivated 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Junior center/forward Courtney Bayles registered 10 points in defeat, and senior guard Chloe Weybright logged seven. Junior forward Taylor Morris chipped in four, and senior guards Kyle Baker and Jade Sanders each booked two.
Having netted nine points during the first frame, Wilson finished the swift-moving game - the sides combined for just 21 fouls and 15 free-throw attempts - with 14 for PSHS (9-1, 3-0). Up next, BHS is scheduled to make the long haul out to the San Luis Valley and La Jara to battle Centauri on Saturday evening.
Bayfield was to travel out to 2A Sargent (6-4) Tuesday evening, but the interleague game in the SLV was postponed due to the weekend snowstorm's continued activity. The girls are scheduled to play in Almosa on Wednesday, after Saturday's game was cancelled due to weather.
