Hayes Malone actually had somewhere else to be Thursday night.
Not in a social sense, but rather inside BHS Gymnasium where, in the final moments of another Bayfield-versus-Ignacio basketball barnburner, the visiting Bobcats had managed to inbound the ball to one of their best shooters with only 0:01.8 remaining on the game clock.
But after seeing Ignacio’s Ambrose Valdez receive Cayson Burcham’s pass to the near wing in front of IHS’ bench, then spin and spot the rim, Malone had zero choice but to react. Needing just a couple of long strides to reach the vicinity, Bayfield’s sophomore leaped with Ignacio’s junior and stretched out his right hand in time to block the potential game-winner as time expired – setting off the Wolverine student section’s NCAA-like celebratory rush onto the court with the scoreboard showing Bayfield 50, Ignacio 49.
“I was really trying to play help (defense) on Trace,” Malone explained, referencing his assignment to aid in stopping IHS junior forward/center Trace Crane, who’d already racked up a memorable game-high 21 points. “But then (Valdez) was out there – I just ran as fast as I could and put my arm up!”
“Hayes stepped up tonight; his defense has really helped us,” said BHS head coach Damon White Thunder. “It seems like every night someone else steps up. And that’s what’s awesome about this team: One person has a down game, somebody else will step up. It’s fun to coach these guys.”
The Wolverines really should have been the ones trying to fire off a buzzer-beater. With 1:10 left in regulation, Burcham hit one of two free throws, and Crane cleaned up the clanked second try for an unplanned three-point play – offsetting BHS senior Cooper Roderick’s tying 3-pointer made 14 seconds earlier – putting the ’Cats back out front, 48-45. Malone then countered with a deuce at the other end, and 0:52.6 remaining.
With fewer than 30 ticks left, he drained a go-ahead trey – the winning shot, as it turned out – from at least five feet behind the three-point perimeter.
“You know, I’ve watched him shoot that shot a ton – I’m subbing here as a P.E. teacher and he shoots a lot – so I had confidence in him,” White Thunder said. “ I know he’s going to make a few.”
But Ignacio threatened five times to have the last roar.
Somehow an invisible lid covered the hoop, and none of five point-blank range attempts – White Thunder was beside himself, clamoring for any sort of defensive rebound – went in. Burcham, however, was fouled by Bayfield post Cameron Queen on the last of the opportunities, and with 5.3 seconds left went to the charity stripe where he was already 3-of-6.
Moments later the sophomore was 3-of-8 as the unseen obstruction atop the basket hadn’t budged, but the no-quit ’Cats – who’d led 41-35 after a Burcham FT with 6:25 to go – managed to regain possession of the ball and head coach Trae Seibel shouted for a timeout granted with 1.8 ticks left.
“That last minute was top-tier for high school; you aren’t expecting it – well, you kind of are with this game,” said Malone, his nose accidentally bloodied by swarming backers’ exuberance. “But those free throws at the end…. (The fans) were loud! And it helped us; he missed both and gave us a chance to go out winning.”
BHS bolted out to a 6-1 lead in the first quarter, but IHS pulled even at 8-8 before trailing 17-11 when the eight-minute session concluded. Had it not been for a trey and eight total points from senior forward Charley Pargin, Ignacio may not have had the mojo to soldier through the second quarter – and rally back to as close as 26-23 before Roderick (12 points), assisted by senior Isaac Forsythe, made a short baseline shot late.
With Pargin (14 points) cashing a perfect turnaround jumper early in the third quarter, the Bobcats went on a 10-0 run and took a strong 33-28 lead with 4:06 left via senior reserve Lincoln Gillespie’s put-back of a Valdez miss. But, with senior Lincoln Williams making all four of his FTs and Queen (12 points) making one basket in the paint, the Wolverines clawed back to 38-34 by quarter’s end.
Finishing 6-of-6 from the foul line, Williams totaled a team-high 16 points.
Valdez finished with seven points. From the foul line, Ignacio ended up 8-of-18 while Bayfield finished 9-of-16.
AFTERMATH: The Wolverines traveled on Friday to continue 3A/4A Intermountain League work at Monte Vista, and defeated the Pirates 58-43. Player statistics were not immediately made known, as BHS improved to 9-5 overall, 3-1 IML. Denied a seventh consecutive win, MVHS slipped to 7-3, 1-1.
IHS, meanwhile made the trip out to La Jara to test unbeaten Centauri, but fell 74-40 and dropped to 7-7, 0-3. The Falcons improved to 13-0, 3-0, but no other information was available.
