The Durango Demons looked defeated for three quarters against cross-county rival Bayfield High School. But in 90 seconds to start the fourth quarter, the scoreboard suddenly said otherwise.
In the second game of the fifth annual Southwest Classic boys basketball tournament played this year at Durango High School, the host Demons went on a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter to take a 42-41 lead. It was a stunning turn of events for a Demons team that had struggled to rebound and was in bad foul trouble all night.
But a key technical foul called against DHS head coach Alan Batiste was shortly followed by an 11-2 run to close out the game by the visiting Wolverines, and Bayfield (1-2, 0-1 3A Intermountain League) prevailed 56-48.
“It was effort. Durango started playing harder than we were,” BHS head coach Klint Chandler said. “We needed to make that change, and our guys did. Any win for us right now is huge. Our first two games weren’t very pretty, but we hadn’t played basketball in a year. We looked a lot better tonight finally after having two games under our belt.”
Free-throw shooting was massive in the game. The Wolverines made 18-of-29, including 9-of-12 in the fourth quarter after Durango’s big run. Durango, meanwhile, made only 9-of-18.
Crosby Edwards, who finished with 12 points for BHS, made 5-of-6 at the foul line in the fourth quarter. Hunter Bayles, who scored 12 points, was 7-of-11 at the free-throw line. Kacey Chandler also scored 12 points and was 5-of-9 at the line.
“We shoot a lot of free throws in practice, and that’s a good thing,” coach Chandler said. “Last year, we were only 50%, and it’s starting to show this year as we knock down free throws and make people pay for it.”
Landon Kennedy led the Wolverines’ balanced scoring attack with 13 points. He had a huge steal against Durango point guard Luke Wesley and drove the three-fourths of the court to finish a layup to clinch the game.
“That was a huge play for us at that time,” coach Chandler said.
Durango (1-2) was in foul trouble all game. That was highlighted by Anthony Flint, the team’s leading scorer who fouled out with 2:29 to play. He had picked up his fourth foul less than a minute into the third quarter. He was held to just six points, with four coming in the fourth quarter.
Offensive rebounds for BHS also were costly in the loss for the Demons, as Bayles, Kennedy and Zack McSweeney repeatedly crashed the glass for the Wolverines.
“The whole game was offensive rebounds and turnovers,” said Batiste. “When we rebounded, we came back and tied the game and took the lead. Then in the last three minutes, they shot 11 free throws. That’s the difference in the game right there. We have to learn how not to foul and be more disciplined on defense. We’re learning on the fly right now.”
Durango’s run started quickly in the fourth. Wesley, who had 10 points in the game, scored five points in a flash paired with a 3-pointer from Ty Martinez and a strong basket in the paint from Jasper Zastrocky, who played a starring role with 10 points.
“Jasper was definitely a bright spot,” Batiste said. “We call it chippers – who is going to step up and score for us when (Flint) doesn’t give us 17. We gotta get everyone going.”
But the game turned back toward Bayfield after Batiste was issued a technical foul for slamming his clipboard on the DHS bench after his team had a poor offensive possession with a one-point lead. Edwards would make two technical free throws with 5:16 to play, and the Wolverines led by one again.
“I don’t know the rules, but I’ve let my clipboard fall out of my hand 15 times in my whole career and it’s never been a technical. It is what it is. My apologies,” Batiste said.
The teams exchanged the lead two more times before the Wolverines went on their final run, highlighted by a big Edwards layup followed by a Durango turnover that led to a Kacey Chandler floater that gave the Wolverines a 49-46 lead with 3:22 to play.
“It felt so good to close it out and get a win,” Kacey Chandler said. “We knew we had to come back and make our own run against them.”
It was a big win for the Wolverines, which won only four games last season and lost both games of the 2020 Southwest Classic by double digits. That came one year after BHS went 2-0 in the same tournament.
BHS will look to go 2-0 for in the 2021 edition of the event when it meets Pine River rival Ignacio (1-1) at 11 a.m. Saturday back inside the DHS gymnasium. Though the Bobcats may be without senior guard Brady McCaw (Achilles injury), coach Chandler knows the Wolverines will have a big task to slow down Ignacio senior forward Bryce Finn.
“We need to do it the same way we played (Flint). Play tough defense on him and limit his touches,” coach Chandler said.
DHS, which has lost two in a row on its home court this week, will look to end the tournament with a win against Montezuma-Cortez (1-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“There’s no question we have to win (Saturday). It would be a huge win, but we have to find our identity as Durango basketball,” Batiste said. “Usually, you find that identity in summer and during preseason stuff. But we don’t have a choice right now. We have to find it quick.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
