One doesn’t often see an 11-point Pagosa Springs girls’ basketball lead disappear completely.
But after seeing their halftime lead Friday nearly erased by the 3A/4A Intermountain League’s ultimate underdog, Bayfield, the Pirates outscored Wolverines 19-2 during the last quarter-and-a-half to secure a 37-18 road win.
“After half(time), (Bayfield) came back and started playing defense a little bit better, doing the little things,” said PSHS head coach Sarah Osborn, whose squad came within two points of squandering an 18-7 advantage gained through two quarters inside BHS Gymnasium. “I think we came out kind of slow, didn’t hit all the defensive marks I’d wanted – especially in the press … we came out a little soft.”
Trailing the guests 7-3 after the first frame, the Wolverines began showing life in the second and battled back to as close as 12-7 via two-point baskets by junior Genesis Barrera and senior Alaysia Kremer, in response to a three by PSHS sophomore Elizabeth Currier. But with senior Chantelle Caldwell scoring six points and junior Annie O’Donnell adding a bucket, further establishing Pagosa Springs (7-13 overall, 5-4 IML) in the paint, BHS entered intermission down 18-7.
Starting the second half about as ideally as possible, Bayfield (4-13, 0-9) began with a three-ball by senior Abria Thayer, followed by a two-point Kremer cleanup inside. With 4:54 left in the third quarter, Osborn took a timeout in an attempt to refocus her players, but more importantly halt the home team’s hastening run – which, via a Barrera drive through the lane, had reached 7-0 and had brought BHS back to 18-14.
BHS sophomore Renae Foutz, however, soon struck from midrange, cutting the deficit to 18-16.
Needing two points to make the contest a brand-new game, the Wolverines wouldn’t get them until late in the fourth with the Pirates having sailed away.
Sophomore Karsyn Shahan sank a momentum-stealing trey, rebuilding the visitors’ lead to 21-16. Pagosa Springs got three more of Caldwell’s game-high 15 points as part of an 11-0 quarter-closing counterstrike – capped by a buzzer-beating Caldwell put-back.
Bayfield junior Madison Mead would foul out with 5:37 left in the fourth, and Caldwell canned two free throws increasing the Pirates’ lead to 35-16 before Barrera netted the final two of her team-leading eight points.
“We didn’t change anything … besides effort,” Osborn said. “Being in the gaps, keeping their girls in front of us …. I did put Liz on their 32 (Kremer), because she was kind of pushing her way into the paint. So (Currier) did a really good job … keeping her on the outside and picking her pocket a little bit.”
“We were able to hit Chantelle well,” she continued, “and when she plays well in the post we all do really well. But we’ve got to see her a little bit more.”
Currier and O’Donnell each finished with seven points, while Shahan and junior DaveyAnn Snarr each scored four.
For Bayfield, Kremer ended up with five points, but Thayer and Foutz couldn’t add to their respective counts.
Looking ahead, the Wolverines will next see action Tuesday when 1A Creede (7-8 overall before a home game Saturday versus 1A La Veta) comes to town. Pagosa Springs, meanwhile, was to next host 3A Montezuma-Cortez (4-11, 2-6 IML) on Saturday.
