Maybe winning wasn’t enough to garner attention on the statewide scene for the Dove Creek girls basketball team.
In spite of doing nothing but win since the holiday break, Class 1A Dove Creek fell in the most recent CHSAA coaches poll rankings – perhaps giving the No. 7 Bulldogs a sense that they still had a lot to prove.
Head coach Julie Kibel’s Bulldogs had plenty of additional motivation – a third consecutive San Juan Basin League title – and the visiting Mancos Bluejays provided a stern litmus test for their title defense on Friday.
If the first four minutes against Mancos (8-3, 2-1 2A/1A SJBL) served as any indication, Dove Creek made it clear that they have no intention of giving up their space at the top of the SJBL podium. Dove Creek (10-2, 3-0 2A/1A SJBL) raced out to a 13-1 lead in the opening minutes and never looked back in a 73-31 win over the Jays, setting Dove Creek up with the pole position for a run at another league crown.
Mancos, winners of seven of their previous eight, looked to go toe-to-toe with the Bulldogs, but never found their footing, scoring only two field goals in a first half dominated by D.C. 3-pointers and second-chance points.
Bulldogs junior Kalie Gatlin started the fireworks in the opening quarter, drilling a pair of threes en route to 10 first-half points. Seniors Rylee Hickman and Lexi Gray each added two field goals apiece, and the Bulldogs owned a 12-point lead after eight minutes.
The margin only grew from there – Dove Creek bolted out of the gates on every defensive rebound, leading to transition buckets – ballooning the lead to 33-12 at the intermission.
Mancos started to find offense in the third quarter, as junior Teya Yeomans score a pair of buckets, while freshman Claire Goodwin added a pair of threes in a brief Mancos rush to keep the game within reach.
However, the Mancos flurry met a Dove Creek rebounding exhibition, as the Bulldogs utilized second- and third-chance opportunities to keep Mancos’ rally at bay. Junior Kylie Gatlin came alive in the third quarter, overpowering the Jays in the interior while sophomore Ralynn Hickman knocked in three triples of her own.
Senior Trista Barnett turned every possession into a track meet, sneaking behind the Mancos defense for backdoor opportunities or transition buckets as four Bulldogs broke into double figures.
Up 53-26 after three quarters, Dove Creek continued to pour it on with a 20-point fourth quarter, as the Gatlin twins showed how difficult the Bulldogs will be to deal with as DC hits the stretch run toward the postseason. The duo combined for 34 points – 19 for Kalie and 15 for Kylie – helping the ‘Dogs to their ninth straight win.
Ralynn Hickman added a baker’s dozen, while Barnett scored 11 points in the runaway win. Goodwin’s 10 points paced the Bluejays in the loss, while Yeomans added seven.
Dove Creek’s postseason ambitions mean that their nonleague tests will continue into the final days of the regular season. The ‘Dogs hop across the border on Tuesday, Jan. 31 to take on San Juan, Utah, before a rematch (albeit not for league standings) with the Bluejays the following night. A trip to Ignacio and a rematch against a Bobcats squad that dealt D.C. one of their two losses also sits on the horizon for Kibel’s squad on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
Mancos looks to bounce back against Ridgway on Saturday, before hosting the Bulldogs on Tuesday, and then making a pivotal trip to Nucla on Thursday, Feb. 2 to cap a busy week.
