Poised to make their 3A/4A Intermountain battle Friday the stuff of league lore, neither the Bayfield Wolverines nor Pagosa Springs Pirates wanted to give an inch through two-and-a-half quarters.
But when PSHS senior guard Gunner Dozier and sophomore guard Colt Lewis buried consecutive 3-pointers to increase the guests’ lead to 38-28 with 3:09 remaining in the third, one side at last had a true upper hand. Senior guard/forward Kayson Shahan also drained a three while posting seven points in the quarter, which ended with Pagosa Springs ahead 42-33. Unfortunately for BHS’ boys, the Pirates were just getting started.
Lewis knocked down two more treys and Dozier made another before closing out the clash going 6-of-6 from the free-throw line as PSHS – ranked No. 8 in the week-starting CHSAANow.com Class 4A poll – racked up 27 points during the final eight minutes to win 69-44.
“We knew we were going to be in for a dogfight tonight, and it kind of was that way for two, three quarters,” said Pagosa Springs head coach Wes Lewis. “But we kind of got some stuff going inside, got some stuff going outside. Had a really nice fourth quarter, obviously, shooting the ball from the three-point line, and also got some buckets in the paint as well.”
“You know, it was a really dynamic … tale of two different games,” Bayfield counterpart Scott Key said. “First half, I think we did really, really well; we made some really good adjustments. But they have a really nice 1-2 punch inside, and then the outside got hot, you know?”
Led by senior center/forward Caden Wood’s aggressive takes to the basket, plus a 3-pointer by senior guard/forward Jackson Queen and a pair of two-point jumpers by senior guard/forward Lance Mazur, BHS (8-10, 2-7 IML) hung right with the Pirates through one quarter and began the second trailing 12-11.
But with Shahan and junior forward Blake Laner having already scored four points during the first eight minutes, Pagosa Springs (15-4, 6-3) had established an interior presence. All that was missing was some outside balance, which quickly showed itself in the second as Dozier and junior reserve Chase Harper resumed play with back-to-back triples assisted by Laner.
The Wolverines, however, kept PSHS honest. Senior Noah Chamblee, a reserve forward, nailed a surprise three and Queen registered four points (of his 14 total) as Bayfield went into halftime down by a manageable 24-20 margin. Trying to take the fight into the paint after intermission, Wood and senior reserve forward Silas Wilbourn combined for 10 of BHS’ 13 third-quarter points, but Pagosa Springs managed to create separation via long-range shooting and improved rebounding.
“We liked the matchup we had against them, if we got (Shahan) the ball in the low post,” Lewis said. “He had a big impact on the game in the second half, rebounded the ball a lot better.”
“We started three bigs – a bigger lineup than we sometimes do – and that was to counter some of their size in there,” he noted. “Blake did a really nice job on Jackson; Queen’s a really nice player and Blake did a nice job defending him on the perimeter. And I thought Aaron Aucoin did a nice job guarding Mazur – those guys are capable of knocking down shots and getting going.”
Dozier and Shahan each totaled 17 points in the visitors’ victory, and Lewis ended up with a vicious 14. Laner finished with 10 points, Harper six and senior forward/center Aucoin five.
“We knew this was going to be a tough game, and Pagosa, hats off to them; they’re a very solid, well-rounded team,” Key said. “But our guys, you know, they kept grinding. They never quit, never gave up.”
Wood equaled Queen’s 14 points and Mazur totaled seven. Wilbourn tallied four and senior guard Max Meyers – who’d set the whole show off soloing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ on violin – two.
“Give credit to Bayfield; they’ve been getting better and better all year long,” said Lewis. “They’ve got a lot of nice pieces – those kids are well-coached and getting better.”
The Wolverines will next see action on Thursday, wrapping up regular-season play at league-leading Alamosa (17-2 overall, 8-1 IML after a 43-40 home loss on Friday to Centauri), presently No. 4 in 4A.
“We’ve started that conversation already – it’s time to … move on,” Key said. “But geography’s not always in our favor.”
