IGNACIO – Jaida Ross stood at the free throw line with no one else around her.
“These need to go in because we really need them,” thought Ross, daughter of Gene and Jamie Carlson.
She made one of them to help seal the Bayfield High School girls basketball team’s 55-47 win over Ignacio High School on Tuesday night in Ignacio.
The Bobcats had cut the Wolverines’ lead to a single point after trailing by double digits for most of the second half.
Bayfield (7-10) pushed its lead out to seven with 2 minutes, 58 seconds remaining, but Ignacio (3-11) held all of the game’s momentum.
Haley Clarke and Cloe Seibel got tied up, and referees called a technical foul on IHS after calling Seibel’s fifth foul of the game.
Clarke missed her two free throws, but Ross stepped up and calmly sank her first one to take the rest of the air out of the gym.
Ending a three-game losing streak was elementary after that.
Ross led BHS with 15 points after making nine free throws to go along with her 12 rebounds for a double-double.
“They can’t guard Jaida,” BHS head coach Bri Simbeck said. “I think Jaida’s one of the best post players in our league, and she’s had a rough, dry spell since Pagosa (Springs), but really she bounced back (Tuesday night).”
The Wolverines jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter largely by force-feeding the ball to Ross inside.
IHS fouled her, and she made her free throws.
The Bobcats shifted their defense to focus on Ross in the second quarter and pulled within six points by halftime and one at the end of the third quarter.
“We were forcing it too much, and they ended up stealing it,” Ross said.
BHS finished the game with 33 turnovers.
The Bobcats didn’t fare much better; they gave it away 20 times themselves.
IHS also saw two players, Gabriela Garcia and Seibel, foul out in the game.
Seibel led IHS with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Bobcats will pack three games into their schedule between Thursday and Saturday, starting with Ouray at 4 p.m. Thursday in Ignacio.
BHS will turn around to play CHSAANow.com Class 3A No. 2 Pagosa Springs at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
“We’re better than what our record shows,” Simbeck said. “We need to start playing like it.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
