Clashing with custom, Bayfield sophomore Lincoln Williams made a snap decision that head coach Scott Key – and pretty much any other basketball boss – would have advised against.
Rather than dribbling as much time off the clock as possible, with the Wolverines clinging to a one-point lead with fewer than 30 seconds remaining, Williams whipped a side-armed feed to Lance Mazur. Mazur had hit a corner three-pointer with 1:05 left in regulation and put BHS up 37-36, and Williams found him standing barely 4 feet from the hoop for an uncontested layup.
“I saw the open spot, and knew (Williams) was open to it,” Mazur said. “I thought, if we can get some extra points – just to get some comfort – then let’s go for it. He found me, and it worked out.”
“There are some things we’re still coaching them through, adjustments within the system,” a grinning Key said. “That’s an easy layup, but in hindsight – and showing them on film – you’d dribble out and try to eat up the clock. But it made for some high drama.”
In fact, Mazur’s gimme bucket proved crucial. With 11 seconds remaining, it not only forced visiting Piedra Vista to call its final timeout, but effectively eliminated any guesswork regarding which Panther would attempt to send the interstate action into overtime.
Sure enough, PVHS senior Gavin Justice, already with three threes in the game, received the rock on the left wing behind the three-point arc. Challenged by a trio of approaching white jerseys, Justice got a decent shot away but missed. The rebound landed in BHS senior Max Meyers’ hands as the buzzer sounded – sealing a 39-36 win for Bayfield and Key’s first as varsity skipper.
“Feels absolutely fantastic,” Key said. “We knew coming into this that it was our first home game, that the crowd was going to be into it – which always helps – and with having the cheerleaders and everyone else … the boys were pumped. They were absolutely excited, finally being on our own turf, and we’re excited we got the ‘W.’”
“We played really hard in Pagosa Springs’ tournament – we felt like we could have won all three games,” Meyers said, alluding to Bayfield’s season-opening losses to Montrose (35-43), Delta (53-59) and the hosting Pirates (31-57) at the Wolf Creek Classic. “And we knew we’d have support from our ‘rowdy crowd’ and our fans, so we knew … we’d just have to finish. Second half, we came out a little flat, but we picked it back up … and just kept fighting.”
Having led 7-3 after the first quarter, the Wolverines (1-3, 0-0 3A/4A Intermountain) got eight points from Meyers during the second to grow their lead to 23-14 entering halftime.
But led by Justice’s 22 points and reserve Alexander Watson’s 8 points, the hungry Panthers (0-6, 0-0 NMAA Dist. 2-5A) closed to 25-24 at the end of the third quarter. After finally tying – via a Justice triple – the score at 27 early in the fourth, PVHS got another morale boost when BHS senior Jackson Queen (8 points) fouled out with 6:39 left.
Mazur (12 points) sank a three to regain Bayfield a 30-27 advantage, which held until Watson nailed a three to put Piedra Vista up 32-30 with about 3:25 remaining. Helped by all four of senior post Caden Wood’s points, BHS remained close at 36-34, prior to Mazur’s aforementioned go-ahead make from deep.
“We called a timeout, and (assistant) coach (Derek Hillyer) drew up an amazing play,” Key said. “We executed the play really well – Lance hit that three – and that pretty much cemented the game.”
“Their guy was a couple feet off, and it was crunch time; I knew I had to let it fly,” Mazur said. “I knew I was missing a lot, but you’ve got to keep shooting … eventually it’ll go. And that one fell when it mattered.”
Williams finished with five points and senior Noah Chamblee two in the victory; PVHS’ Serafin Carter, Devin Pierce and Zylis Nelson each scored two in defeat.
Up next, BHS will head east on Friday to Monte Vista. The Pirates are off to a 3-0 start after scoring wins at the Rye Invitational over now-3A Rocky Ford, Pueblo-based 2A Swallows Charter Academy and Colorado Springs St. Mary’s, who placed fourth in last season’s Class 3A State Championships.
JV action will begin at 4 p.m., with the varsity tip scheduled for about 6:30 p.m.
“We’ll hopefully watch some film, see what they’re doing, but I think we can win against them too,” Meyers said. “If we recover a bit, get some more work in on our offense during practice, I … feel we have a good shot this weekend.”
“We didn’t play nearly as good as we could have tonight,” Mazur said, “but we … now know what we need to do.”
