After victories in their first twelve games against in state opponents, the Dove Creek Bulldogs girls basketball team finally slipped against a team from Colorado.
Not to be discouraged by their loss, the Bulldogs rebounded in a big way, closing out last weekend’s play with a big win.
Bulldogs fall to Nucla
Playing at home against a strong Nucla team on Feb. 14, the Bulldogs lost their first league game of the season, falling 40-35 in a hotly contested contest.
Evenly matched throughout the first half, Dove Creek and Nucla traded blows before entering the locker room at halftime with the Bulldogs leading 20-19.
After a low-scoring third quarter that saw both teams record four points, they entered the fourth desperate to build a lead.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, it was Nucla that seized the moment, scoring several free throws during the final frame in route to the five-point win.
“Nucla is a good ball team,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Jim Buffington. “They had some good pressure on us. The thing that hurt us more than anything was that we put them on the free throw line 32 times.”
Leading the Bulldogs with 10 points was senior Jessica Guynes. Senior Shelbie Knuckles added nine.
Bulldogs dominate Ouray
Clearly bothered by their loss, the Bulldogs returned to action versus Ouray on Feb. 15, sprinting their way to an easy 51-28 win.
Stifling Ouray’s attempts to slow play early in the contest, Bulldogs senior Corissa Guynes converted several steals into easy buckets to help Dove Creek build a 21-7 first quarter lead.
After struggling to score during the second quarter, the Bulldogs exploded in the third, outscoring Ouray 16-8 to build a 41-20 lead entering the fourth.
“Once we went out and picked them up, we were able to do some damage,” said Buffington.
Especially impressive for the Bulldogs was the ability to mount a balanced scoring attack.
In all, five Bulldogs scored at least seven points.
“We have several people who do the abundance of our scoring,” Buffington said.
With their record at 15-3, the Bulldogs next play on the road against Nucla on Feb. 22.