Shell-shocked by an enemy sniper's second-half accuracy the previous evening, the hard-luck Bayfield girls suddenly fired back last Saturday morning with a newfound vitality.
"Yesterday, we didn't quite work as one team," admitted senior guard Kyle Baker, "but today, you could definitely see it. That's how high school basketball works. You play how you practice, and this last week, we've tried practicing really hard, preparing for these good schools, and I feel that's what helped us out a ton."
Included in a Buena Vista Invitational field featuring three top-10 - and now top-five - teams (Sterling, Colorado Springs St. Mary's, Pagosa Springs) in the CHSAANow.com Class 3A poll, the Wolverines found themselves trailing both Broomfield-based Jefferson Academy and Denver-based Colorado Academy by only five points at halftime of each engagement.
But whereas sophomore Ellie Hausmann's five three-pointers and game-high 19 points helped JA rip open a 16-11 contest and run away 53-22, BHS wasn't about to let CA succeed inside McGinnis Middle School Gymnasium with any sort of sneak attack.
"Yesterday, we weren't going out on those three-point shots, and I think that's what killed us; we just let those outside shots be made," junior center/forward Courtney Bayles said. "So we went in knowing if we kept the energy high, we would play with them. We could do anything if we kept our energy high."
"We decided in the locker room that a tough game really makes us, I don't know, have more energy," said senior guard Chloe Weybright. "And we worked together more as a team whenever we talked, that was one of our priorities and really helped a lot."
Down 24-19 to the Mustangs - eager to avenge their 54-31 loss to PSHS the previous day - at intermission, Weybright began the third quarter with a jumper, and a short Bayles bucket brought BHS back to as close as 25-23 before Colorado Academy rebuilt themselves a 38-30 lead prior to the weekend's final eight minutes.
To their amazement, it wouldn't hold up.
Two Baker baskets eventually closed the gap to 42-38, and a turnaround jumper by senior forward Taylor Morris tightened it to two with 3:47 remaining. After a Weybright free throw, fellow newcomer Jordan Lanning sank a shot with 3:27 left for a 43-42 advantage - Bayfield's first since a Weybright trey put the Wolverines up 11-10 starting the second quarter.
"Chloe and Jordan had a great game today; I was really proud of them," said Baker. "You know, everybody helps. It doesn't matter if you are sitting on the bench just helping encourage - everything helps! Once a teammate makes a basket, everybody gets psyched and that pumps you up, to make it on defense and do it again."
Academy reserve Celia Osman managed an unexpected three, but BHS answered with two close-range Bayles baskets through paint-patroller Kyra Kurtz and others to retake a 47-45 lead with 2:08 left.
"Coach (Lana Killough) was telling us to shot-fake and go up strong - we were just trying to draw fouls for the most part," Bayles said. "We knew it was going to be hard to get around (Kurtz), but as long as we went up strong, that's what made the difference in our shots."
With a game-high 15 points to her name, Weybright unfortunately fouled out only five seconds later, but Bayfield still led 49-47 with 1:29 remaining. "Coach tells me I need to be a leader, so I definitely tried to step up more today than yesterday," said the transfer student from Bethany, Illinois. "I just had to help the team get hyped, and it helped a lot."
And almost helped enough. However, confident enough to attempt another deep three after badly missing from the same left-wing spot with her previous try, Mustang sophomore Story Wolf-Tinsman somehow banked in with 0:24 left. The academy survived BHS' last-ditch efforts to escape 50-49.
Bayles would finish with 13 points, giving her 21 for the tournament. Weybright totaled 18 and Morris 12 (eight versus Jefferson Academy). Lanning and forward Savannah Kaufmann each booked six points against Colorado Academy after managing just one apiece against JA.
Kurtz, a junior, finished with a CA-best 12 points, while Wolf-Tinsman and sophomore Margaret Silliman each contributed ten.
Colorado Academy improved to 3-2 overall after the close call, while Bayfield dropped to 1-3 and will next visit 2A Blanding, Utah. The Wolverines then host 1A Monticello, Utah, tomorrow to wrap up the pre-holiday portion of their 2016-17 schedule.
