It took every point, but Winslow High School went home happy Friday night, Feb. 26.

The third-ranked Bulldogs’ opponent, Snowflake, went home with its first loss after a furious rally from nine points down in the final 2:20 fell one point short, 64-63.

Dustin Richard, who was injured and could not play in the Bulldogs’ only loss Feb. 9 at the second-ranked Lobos, made his six-foot, two-inch presence known with 11 points and seven rebounds.

But his biggest play came with 2.3 seconds remaining, when the six-foot, two-inch senior forward outreached six-foot, four-inch Lobos senior forward Stewart West for the ball on an inbounds lob pass, foiling Snowflake’s final shot attempt.

“Luckily the boy can jump,” Winslow head coach Venton Nelson said following a back-and-forth contest that dropped the Lobos from the dwindling ranks of the undefeated in Arizona high school boys basketball. “They threw it up, and he was able to outjump Stewart.”

All a drained, defeated Lobos head coach Andy Wood could point to after that play was free throws. Winslow sunk 67 percent of its 24 chances at the charity stripe; Snowflake, just 9 of 21, less than 43 percent.

“That made the difference in the end,” Wood said. “We did our best, we had our chance to win, and...I guess their guy was stronger than our guy.”

As strong as West’s team-leading 17 points was Bulldogs forward Tyrell Young’s performance, especially in the second half. Young led Winslow with 17 of his own, 15 of those points serving to retake the lead, then hang on.

“It’s all about practice first, and bringing the intensity in the game,” Young said. “Not just the guys on the floor, but the energy from the bench.”

With 10-point-per-game starter Noah Baum sitting on the sidelines with his right foot in a boot, Snowflake had to look to not only West, but guards Kaiden Brewer, Michael Brimhall and Gannon Larson to bring that energy, especially after Young scored his final points to put Winslow up, 59-50, with less than three minutes to play.

Brimhall struck first. His three-pointer with 33.2 seconds left allowed Wood to call time out, down five, and set up his full-court press.

It paid off with under 18 seconds remaining when, after senior Cauy Silversmith was fouled but could only hit one of his two foul shots, Larson banked in a three-point shot of his own from deep behind the top of the key to bring the Lobos to within 64-61.

“Looking on the other side of the court and seeing Noah on the sideline, I think my boys relaxed,” Nelson said. “They felt like they had a W for tonight’s game. And I’m sitting on the sidelines going, like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’”

Winslow could not break Wood’s press on the inbounds for the rest of the game, and it nearly proved disastrous for the Bulldogs.

On their first attempt, Larson would steal the ball and hit a left-handed floater in the paint with a hand in his face. On their second attempt, Winslow could not inbound at all, resulting in a five-second violation and final shot for the Lobos:

Although Young only scored two points in the first half, Richard picked him up with three three-point shots, including two during a second-quarter barrage which resulted in the largest lead for either team in the half, 19-13. 

“With Richard back, that helped Tyrell a lot to get him into the groove on the offensive end,” Nelson said. “He has a quick first step, [so] it gave him some energy, some lift on his shots.”

Zane Corum, who finished with 11 points, gave Winslow that edge on two straight three-pointers, including one from the top of the key in which his follow-through took him to the floor on his left side.

Fellow senior guard Jeremiah Byjoe matched West’s first-half total with 10, including the final three points of the first half on a runner and one of two free throws to bring the Bulldogs within a point of the Lobos. 

“We just couldn’t find ourselves,” Nelson said. “Too much one-on-one; we weren’t in the flow of the offense.

“We went in the locker room, regrouped, talked to everybody, came out and started playing team basketball. That’s when we found our rhythm. 

“This is a huge win for my ballclub.”

But Winslow’s work to win the 3A East Region is not done. With a win Saturday, Feb. 27, at Payson High School, Winslow will enter a deadlock for first place with Snowflake.

Then, however, each team has two Freedom games remaining--all against opponents fighting for their postseason lives.

Even with a win in their final region game at Payson, the Bulldogs still need to win on the road Thursday, March 4, at 15th-ranked Camp Verde the evening before hosting Senior Night against No. 6 Florence High School.

Even if the Bulldogs win those games as well, they need to root for a higher Arizona Interscholastic Association power ranking or a Lobos loss. Snowflake was able to fit in one more game onto its schedule this season and therefore could finish a half-game higher in the 3A East standings than Winslow.

“We’ve just got to finish strong,” Young said. “We’ve got to win all of our games left and, hopefully, get that 1 or 2 seed so we can have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.”

The Lobos host 12th-ranked Thatcher High School for Senior Night on Monday, March 1, before finishing their regular season the following evening at local rival St. Johns, ranked 11th in the 2A Conference.

“Hopefully this’ll get our guys a little more focused and come back with a vengeance," Wood said. "Winslow's a tough ballclub."