Having somehow survived, more or less, a 15-0 Durango blitz concluding the first quarter, there was, for the Bayfield girls, unfortunately no recovery from the Demons’ 13-0 outburst beginning the third on Friday.
Sophomores Mariah Maestas and Lilly Fitzpatrick each racked up 17 points and junior Madison Hoeper tallied 13 as 5A DHS’ junior varsity – reinforced by multiple JV/varsity “swing” players – avoided a second loss this winter to 3A BHS’ varsity with a 59-24 win inside the Demon Dome.
“I think the game plan was to really move the ball around, work on who we are as a team and see how it goes from there,” said Fitzpatrick, who did most of her damage close to the basket while Maestas and Hoeper combined for a crippling six three-pointers. The duo nearly had a seventh, but one of Maestas’ long-distance makes occurred with a foot nicking the arc.
“We have some pretty good shooters on this team,” she continued. “I feel like we have good range and ability; if we pass the ball around and take our time moving the ball, I think we can get a pretty good shot.”
“It’s kind of harder to guard three-point shooters, because all we know … is to guard in the paint. It’s harder to shoot in the paint than it is threes. So it was a better experience for us,” said BHS senior Alaysia Kremer, who sank two surprising treys herself – one bringing the Wolverines (2-4, 0-0 3A/4A Intermountain) back to 8-7 midway through the opening eight minutes.
Durango, however, responded with a severe spree – capped by triples from Maestas and sophomore Rose Hinds – forcing the guests to play catch-up the rest of the way. Trailing 23-7 entering the second quarter, Bayfield certainly tried their hardest to do so. After Demon sophomore Bailey Gaskins canned a three 6:05 before halftime that widened the gap to 26-8, BHS went on a 9-0 run and closed to 26-17 via junior Lily Lewin’s short-range bucket with 1:42 remaining.
Hoeper drilled her first three-pointer, but BHS junior Genesis Barrera managed to make one free throw late, trimming the deficit to 29-18 at intermission.
Behind six of Fitzpatrick’s 12 second-half points and another Hoeper corner three, the Demons rebuilt their lead to 42-18. Kremer (12 points) cleaned up a miss by senior Abria Thayer, but Durango began the fourth quarter up 44-20.
“It was something that just happened,” Hoeper said of DHS’ devastation from deep. “But I think our shots were spot-on for the most part.”
Freshmen Hadley Denney, Delia Bong and Ryne Neiman each logged two points, giving Durango eight scorers in the victory. Barrera finished with three points in defeat, while Thayer, sophomore Renae Foutz and junior Madison Mead each totaled two and junior Michelle Kirk one as seven Wolverines contributed offensively.
With Hoeper and Kremer having initially entered the game among their respective coaches’ reserves, DHS won the bench-points battle 19-13. The Demons also ended up 5-of-12 from the free-throw line; the Wolverines were 4-of-7.
Up next, Bayfield will host 2A Telluride on Wednesday. DHS’ JV will next see action on the Tuesday in Bloomfield (New Mexico) before the varsity Demons (8-1, 0-0 5A/6A Southwestern) clash with the Bobcats (7-3, 0-0 NMAA Dist. 1-4A).
