Typically a sixth-man option for head coach Damon White Thunder, senior forward Austin Wilmer made his start Friday night inside BHS Gymnasium one he may never forget.
Protecting sophomore forward Cameron Queen’s game-tying basket, booked with 32.9 ticks remaining in regulation, Wilmer then scrambled across the paint to reject AHS junior guard Tony Griego’s attempted game-winning 15-footer with barely three seconds left. With momentum in his favor, Wilmer continued running forward, retrieved the ball and tried heaving up a Hail Mary-type shot. But despite taking contact – White Thunder clamored for a foul – from an Alamosa player, the contest went into overtime tied at 36-36.
BHS senior Isaac Forsythe then won the jump ball beginning the bonus four-minute session, and not long after, Wilmer cleaned up a missed shot by junior Kingston Martinez for a 38-36 advantage.
The 4A Mean Moose, however, had an answer and his name was Victor Zepeda. Held to just three points during the first three quarters, Zepeda blew up during the fourth – first sinking a 3-pointer, cutting 3A Bayfield’s 27-23 lead down to 27-26, then slashing to the hoop for four more baskets, ultimately putting Alamosa up 36-34 with 1:26 to go.
In OT, the junior guard stayed hot and cashed a trey, trimming the Wolverines’ 43-39 advantage down to just a point. After BHS senior guard Cooper Roderick, Zepeda’s counterpart during the fourth, fouled out with 0:47.8 left in overtime, Zepeda then rubbed salt in the wound by making a running bank shot, swiping the visitors a 44-43 lead.
But the heroics would be Wilmer’s; his short-range baseline jumper with fewer than 20 ticks remaining put Bayfield up 45-44 and would prove to be the winning bucket. But barely; after Griego fouled out with 0:01 left, the Wolverines inbounded on their side of midcourt in front of the scorer’s table, but the ball was deflected to AHS’ Jayden Lujan. The only senior on head coach Caleb Cotten’s roster, Lujan got off a desperation three from AHS’ side of the center line but missed wide as time expired.
Roderick ended up making four threes and totaling 19 points for Bayfield (6-4 overall, 1-0 IML), while Zepeda also racked up 19 for the Mean Moose (2-8, 0-1) in a game which gave no indication early on of becoming what it did.
Neither side troubled the scorekeeper until Roderick made one of two free throws exactly halfway through the opening eight minutes. Each side then made just one field goal as the first frame ended with the Wolverines leading 3-2. Roderick then opened the second quarter by nailing a three, but Alamosa would take a 7-6 lead via a Griego drive through the lane.
Juniors Brennan Maez and Jaidyn Burciaga each drained a 3-pointer as the guests – who missed their six first-quarter FTs and their first seven of 10 total before halftime – grew their advantage to 13-8 with 3:29 left. White Thunder used a timeout, but two Lujan FTs increased AHS’ lead to 15-8 before Martinez knocked down a much-needed 3-pointer.
The Mean Moose answered as the buzzer sounded, with junior reserve Josh Gonzalez taking a Burciaga pass, wrapped around a Wolverine obstructing the baseline, and converting a layup for a promising 17-11 lead into halftime.
Zepeda began the second half with a free throw, but the Wolverines then went on a 9-0 run – capped by a Queen and-one take – putting BHS up 20-18. Burciaga would bury a 3-pointer to regain AHS a 23-22 lead, but Malone soon netted one of his own and Wilmer, fittingly, netted the third quarter’s last 2-pointer.
Bayfield ended up just 2-of-3 from the charity stripe, while Alamosa finished 4-of-12.
The Mean Moose hosted now-4A Montezuma-Cortez (8-3, 0-1 IML) on Saturday, while the Wolverines also traveled into the San Luis Valley to challenge 3A Centauri (11-0, 1-0) on Saturday. Centauri won 50-39.