SAN JUAN COUNTY, N. M. – Having witnessed Shiprock (New Mexico) erase his team’s six-point lead in the fourth quarter on Monday with a frightening nine-point run, Bayfield head coach Scott Key was even more surprised by Shiprock’s foul line ineptitude during crunchtime inside the Chieftain Pit.
“Especially being that their two best shooters – that were hitting all the threes – were at the line and missing,” he said, alluding to Shiprock’s 0-of-5 free-throw shooting during the final 1:42 of regulation. “So we were thankful for that.”
Having seen a 15-point halftime lead disappear as the Chieftains hit their 3-pointers and forced BHS turnovers, the Wolverines trailed 54-53 with 102 ticks left on the clock. Complicating matters even more, sophomore guard Lincoln Williams then fouled out with 0:46 remaining.
Senior center/forward Caden Wood had already received his fifth personal foul with 4:37 to go, depriving Key of two starters entering the home stretch. Fortunately, senior regulars Jackson Queen and Lance Mazur were still on the floor, and after SHS committed a backcourt violation with 0:29 left, Mazur received the inbounds pass and took time off the clock before finding Queen near the hoop for a close-range bucket.
Fouled on the shot by Shiprock’s Ethan Howe, Queen swished the and-one free throw to put Bayfield ahead 56-54 with 7.1 seconds left. The Chieftains managed to hustle the ball into the frontcourt and generate a chance to tie after Tyler Jim was fouled by senior Silas Wilbourn with 0:01.6 showing on the scoreboard.
Jim’s first resulting free throw fell short, and his intentionally bricked second try failed to produce an offensive rebound. After the ball was deflected out of play, Mazur then threw a baseball-style inbounds pass to Queen near the opposite foul line to kill off the re-added final second – and clinch the Wolverines’ fifth consecutive victory.
“It turned into a track meet, and we needed to control our possessions, not turn the ball over, and slow them down,” said Key. “We’ve proven over and over that in the fourth quarter we usually finish the game, and we came out on top.”
“Yeah, we were all ready. We were all super-excited for this game,” Wilbourn said, after turning in a 4-point, 13-rebound effort as a spot starter replacing the unavailable Max Meyers. “I was kind of surprised when I got the start, and knew I just had to … do the best that I could. My teammates, they trust me and got me the ball, and my free throws … I made them count.”
Wilbourn went 4-of-4 from the stripe, and BHS (5-3, 0-0 CHSAA 3A/4A Intermountain) finished 7-of-12 while Shiprock (3-10, 0-0 NMAA Dist. 1-4A) shot a crippling 3-of-11.
Booking 12 of Bayfield’s 16 first-quarter points, Queen drilled three 3-pointers and totaled a game-high 22 points. The Wolverines’ third-quarter lifesaver with three (of his four) treys and 11 points, Mazur finished with 20. Senior Noah Chamblee came off the bench to tally five points, Wood registered four and Williams one (along with eight rebounds and nine assists) on Dave Bowman Court.
All told, Bayfield led 16-6 after the first quarter and cruised into intermission up 28-13 before the Chieftains, led by junior guards Donte Nelson (15 points) and Nevaughn Begay (12), outscored the Wolverines 24-16 in the third and 17-12 in the fourth. Senior guard Logan Pioche scored 11 points before fouling out with 4:52 left in the game, 15 seconds before Wood.
“Our 2-3 (zone defense) was kind of getting broken down with their perimeter shots,” Wilbourn said, “so we … switched to man(-to-man) so we could guard them better.”
Bayfield will next begin IML play Friday at home versus Montezuma-Cortez (4-3, 0-0). Centauri will arrive the next night after having hosting Pagosa Springs on Friday in a battle of 8-1 squads.
“We were on a pretty hot streak, and then Christmas break hit and we hadn’t played for, I think, three weeks,” Key said. “That’s a long time to just be practicing – it started feeling kind of … mundane, this and that – and I’m glad that we had this game to prepare for the IML. Friday and Saturday should be exciting.”
Cooper Roderick canned six 3-pointers and totaled 21 points as Bayfield’s JV routed Shiprock’s 66-42. Rathan Brinkerhoff and Kingston Martinez each scored 13 points in support, and Vincent McCullough booked seven fourth-quarter points to finish with 11. Deion Harvey paced SHS with 20 points, but fouled out with 3:31 left in the third quarter.
