When visiting Sargent needed a big play, Lainie Dillon responded.
Bayfield freshman center/forward Macee Schultz began Tuesday evening's non-league test with a basket in close, only to see the Sargent Farmer junior strike back immediately with a three-pointer.
When it appeared later that BHS had at last built up enough of a lead to coast down the home stretch, Dillon countered with a steal and buzzer-beating breakaway layup to end the third quarter, then began the fourth with her fourth clutch triple of the game, shrinking the deficit back down to 30-27.
"They are a talented three-point shooting team," said BHS head coach Josh Kitchen. "We kind of decided that was what we were going to give them, and if they could beat us that way, they would."
Fortunately for Bayfield, SHS didn't.
But they nearly took another route.
The Wolverines, hungry for victory after a late-game breakdown and 41-38 loss to Alamosa three days earlier in 3A Intermountain League play, increased their fourth-quarter lead to 32-29 via a Jordan Lanning bucket set up by freshman Kira Riley.
Seeing how Bayfield was willing to patiently work the ball inside, Sargent coach Stan David suddenly shifted his team's attack from the outside to in, using 5'9" freshman McKinzie Tolliver to pierce the heart of BHS' zone defense for two vital baskets, giving the 2A Farmers a brief 33-32 lead.
"They went to that 1-2-2, which opened up the middle, allowed her to do her thing," Coach David said. "They took out one of the big girls that was in there early, and that left the lane wide open for her to go to work. She did a good job."
But Bayfield junior Tymbree Florian, who'd began the third quarter with five points in 47 seconds, struck back with a hard, successful drive, regaining the upper hand, then sped through the resistance for another basket after SHS failed to score.
"We worked so hard on offense, and we didn't play defense at all tonight," David said. "Man, or when I went to zone. Then we went back to man and started playing better, and then late-when we'd got the lead-we let 'em have a layup again! Our defensive intensity and pressure is not there, you know?"
BHS freshman Madison Wells then sank one of two free throws after Dillon was forced to foul in a time-saving move. Bayfield (4-9, 1-3 IML) managed to ride out the final 52.8 seconds, fully knowing Sargent would keep firing until the end.
"We were able to pull it out, thankfully," a relieved Kitchen said. "Obviously we didn't want it to be that close, but I was proud of the defense that allowed Tymbree to steal that ball and get that layup. It was a grinder tonight."
Having booked nine points and four fouls against Alamosa, Florian registered a team-high 11 points against SHS while again finishing with four personals. Senior Tiarra Christensen, Lanning (who'd scored 12 against the Mean Moose), and Schultz each chipped in four points. Wells and freshman Halle Loveday each logged two, and junior Mikayla Barnes one.
Proving to be one of BHS' top options coming off the bench, Riley followed up her eight-point effort against AHS with nine-including a buzzer-beating deuce, with her sightline nearly blocked, from about 16 feet out ending the first half. That put Bayfield up 19-18 after Dillon had converted a steal into two go-ahead points.
"You know, she was injured earlier in the season but she's been able to get her health back quite a bit and that's getting her more playing time," Kitchen said of Riley. "And she's just so physical out there for us, got a lot of confidence in her mid-range game and she's showing it."
Dillon paced all players with her 16 points, and her three-point barrage captivated Kitchen's interest for the future, immediate and distant.
"The threes, we need to start exploiting that a little more," he said. "Tymbree's a great three-point shooter when she's focused, and she did a great job."
"The girls definitely worked hard, but I think if we'd come and played our best game it would have been a different storyline," he continued. "I think we can improve a lot, and hopefully we can before we see Cortez."
Up next, BHS will visit Montezuma-Cortez (2-11, 0-4) on Friday, Jan. 26, then host Centauri the next afternoon.
