Kylie Ketchum won the opening jump ball by nearly a vertical foot.
With the senior soon converting two of classmate Elizabeth Currier’s passes into transition layups, plus senior Karsyn Shahan knocking down a 3-pointer, the Pirates girls basketball team calmly constructed a 7-0 lead through the first 3:32 of their road game Friday evening at Bayfield.
By the time Wolverine freshman Grace Brown made one of two free throws with 1:22 left in the opening eight-minute quarter, PSHS’ lead had swelled to 14-0 – and would remain 14-1 beginning the second quarter. Senior Renae Foutz then knocked down a long baseline jumper for BHS’ first field goal, but Currier quickly countered with a breakaway layup sparking a door-slamming 16-0 run putting the visitors up 30-3 at halftime.
Willing to insert her reserves during the third – particularly after Shahan was hit with three personal fouls in swift succession – and fourth quarters, Pagosa Springs head coach Sarah Osborn was relieved her squad was well in the clear. For even with Currier draining two treys and totaling 10 points after intermission, Foutz-fueled Bayfield played PSHS to an 8-8 draw in the third quarter and lost the half by just four points, 21-17, as the Pirates prevailed 51-20.
“It was fun to get our younger ‘swing’ players in,” Osborn said. “So it was a little rusty – our varsity players playing with them – getting that going, but it was fun to get them some minutes … especially when Bayfield doesn’t have a JV. That was our goal, to kind of make the gap big enough to where we felt comfortable getting them on the floor.”
With all 12 uniformed Pirates receiving court time, Currier finished with a game-high 19 points. Junior Lexi Campbell came off the bench to contribute seven.
Able to bury two threes during the fourth quarter – despite starting it with four personal fouls and her team trailing 38-11 – and finish 5-of-8 overall from the free-throw line, Foutz ended up with a BHS-leading 15 points.
Standing 0-5 in 3A/4A Intermountain League play but 5-10 overall, the Wolverines visited Montezuma-Cortez the next day, while the Pirates (5-0 IML, 11-4 overall) hosted Centauri. Results from both games were unavailable at press time.
