SAN LUIS VALLEY – Even when Bayfield’s boys finally gained the upper hand in their 3A/4A Intermountain League opener Friday night their collective grip wasn’t as tight as it probably needed to be.
However the end result showed that the Wolverines had the final say with a 48-45 win.
Even after Alamosa senior Jaidyn Burciaga’s clutch 3-pointer wiped out a hard-earned 45-42 advantage, roughly 90 seconds still remained for the visiting Wolverines to try completing an uphill climb marked by one-step-forward-two-steps-back progress.
Utilized sparingly throughout the first three quarters, junior post Cameron Queen received a pass from junior guard Hayes Malone and answered Burciaga’s trey with a perfect 12-footer in the paint, putting 3A BHS up 47-45 with 1:23 still remaining. The 4A Mean Moose then failed to respond at the other end, and after BHS head coach Damon White Thunder used a timeout to ready his troops for what undoubtedly would be an intense finish, Malone hit one of two free throws after AHS senior guard Victor Zepeda fouled him with 0:40 left.
Sophomore Drew Jepson, however, rebounded Malone’s missed second attempt and Burciaga had no choice but to foul with 0:36 to go. Having done just about everything else asked of him, Jepson missed both freebies and Alamosa managed to gain control and cross midcourt, and head coach Caleb Cotten burned a timeout with 24 ticks left and the home team trailing 48-45.
Moments later, Zepeda lined up a trey from the right wing, but Jepson suddenly appeared, sprang vertically and swatted the shot into AHS’ bench, stopping the clock with 0:08 remaining. Williams then burgled the inbounds pass away from Burciaga and dribbled the ball back across midcourt as time mercifully expired.
“We were missing our senior leader, Kingston (Martinez), tonight – he’s sick at home – so we knew that somebody else had to step up,” said White Thunder. “So it’s great for them to step up and get a stop at the end, show us what they can do.”
Trailing 17-9 after the opening eight minutes, thanks to eight Zepeda points and a swift six from reserve senior center Kingston Wilcox, the Wolverines (8-3 overall, 1-0 IML) began the slow ascent out of a 19-9, second-quarter hole and closed to 19-17 via a Malone-assisted 3-pointer by freshman reserve Brycen Bayles.
Zepeda responded with a three, however, and the Mean Moose (5-5, 0-1) rebuilt themselves a 27-19 lead – via a Burciaga pull-up jumper – before going into halftime up 27-21. Queen got the third quarter underway converting junior guard Xavier Sutherlin’s slick baseline pass, wrapped around an Alamosa player, into an easy basket inside. Malone then made a free throw with 6:16 left, and drilled his first 3-pointer, knotting the score at 27-27.
Aided by a trey courtesy reserve junior guard Gabe Mora, AHS again answered and went up 34-27. Malone then hit his second three, but Zepeda responded with a highlight-reel, two-point take through multiple Wolverines. White Thunder then used a timeout with 3:12 to go, and Malone then promptly splashed his third triple – bringing Bayfield back to 38-33 just before Wilcox yet again slipped unseen into the paint for a buzzer-beating bucket assisted by senior Nelson Arambula.
“Number 2 shoots it really well,” said Cotten, referring to Malone by jersey number. “We did a good job on him in the first half and then we lost him a couple times in the second …. And then rebounding, we just didn’t finish possessions. Played great the first half and well into the third quarter, and just couldn’t finish.”
Malone (3-7 FT) ended up with a game-high 21 points and Queen totaled 10 as the Wolverines, who never led until a Malone trey with 3:46 remaining in the game put them up 43-42, left eager to host 3A Centauri the next afternoon.
“We definitely have a few things to fix,” said Bayfield junior guard Henry Ferrell. “We didn’t shoot great tonight but tomorrow hopefully we can hit those shots. Just keep shooting and practicing every day.”
Zepeda totaled 17 points and Wilcox 12 for Alamosa in the loss as the Moose began preparing to visit M-CHS the next afternoon.
