With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Dove Creek basketball teams are doing what they’d want to do – play their best ball of the season.
The Bulldogs are forging through the grind of injuries amid a busy schedule and continue to chalk up victories along the way. Dove Creek’s girls capped off an unbeaten week with a home victory on Saturday over Dolores, 54-15, closing out a five-day span that also included wins over Telluride and M-CHS.
The boys also capitalized on their home court, holding off a late Dolores charge in a 68-48 victory to end the week 2-0.
Both teams enjoy 15-5 records as they hit the homestretch, with the boys team (9-0 SJBL) poised to earn their second league title in three years. A road showdown with second-place Ridgway (8-1 SJBL) looms large on Feb. 27, but in the meantime, the ‘Dogs are enjoying the fruits of their balanced attack.
In the win over the Bears, senior Liam Hassell again led the Bulldogs in scoring, piling up 16 of his 26 points in the second half. However, it was an effort that included three other double-figure scorers that helped the hosts build a 24-5 lead early.
Junior Trevan Ivie fired the Bulldogs in front with eight first-quarter points on his way to 16 in the contest, while senior Sheldon Gardner’s three triples and 11 points held the lead at a comfortable margin until the fourth quarter.
Dolores, who had trailed by more than 20 for stretches of the first half, clawed back into the contest behind senior Trayton Traweek. A 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter from the Bears guard – part of his team-high 19 points – pulled Dolores within eight, but the Bears would get no closer.
Hassell took over from there, joining junior Nicholas Aragon’s late free throws and 10 points to help Dove Creek rebuild their lead down the stretch.
Dolores junior Michael Rantz scored 12 points for the Bears (6-14, 3-7 SJBL), who will look forward to their Senior Night on Tuesday against Nucla before closing out their season on the road in Mancos on Friday.
The Dove Creek girls (7-2 SJBL) cruised to a win over the Bears (7-14, 4-6 SJBL) behind another sterling performance from junior Taylor Hampton, who scored 22 points to lead all scorers. The scoring output followed up an 18-point effort in a come-from-behind win over M-CHS on Friday night.
Hampton’s strong second half helped guide the Bulldogs back from a double-figure deficit against the Panthers to emerge with a 50-39 win.
The Bulldogs hope to continue to see scoring contributions from a multitude of sources like they did in their win against Telluride on Tuesday, as well as in their victory over Dolores, where freshman Leah Barnett tallied eight points, to join junior Hadley Hatfield and senior Ralynn Hickman with eight apiece.
Dolores junior Taylor Erautt led the Bears with nine points Saturday.
Hickman scored 15 against M-CHS while senior Taylor Barry added eight and sophomore Mykaela Fury scored five. Senior Panthers Taylor Whited (12 points) and Kalea Ogo (10 points) led the way for the hosts.
Dove Creek will celebrate their collection of seniors on Tuesday night in The Dawg House when they play host to Mancos. From there, the Bulldogs head into a meeting with Ouray on Friday. The contest against the Bluejays will be available on radio station 98.7 FM KRTZ and on krtzradio.com, with the girls game slated to begin at 6 p.m.
