The Dolores Lady Bears came out sluggish against the Dove Creek Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday evening, before pulling away for a 56-30 win.
Dolores head coach Larry Schwartz said his players may have been overconfident to start the contest – having defeated Dove Creek 56-25 earlier this season – and the Bulldogs took advantage.
LaRissa Martin scored four of her game-high 13 points in the opening frame, and Kris Johnson added a 3-pointer to give Dove Creek a 7-5 lead after one.
Dolores brought its usual full-court pressure, but for a quarter at least, the Bulldogs navigated through the traffic. Even when turning it over, Dove Creek kept the Bears from scoring in transition.
“We were just trying to keep control of the ball and run the press break,” said Dove Creek head coach Angie Gatlin. “And they did fairly well the first quarter.”
The following three quarters were a different story.
“We’re at our best when we steal the ball and run,” said Schwartz. “We aren’t very big, but we are fast.”
Alternating between man-to-man, 1-2-1-1 and 2-2-1 presses, Dolores was able to speed up the game and turn Dove Creek turnovers into breakaway scores.
“They started putting a little more pressure on us and our girls got frustrated and started throwing the ball away and just couldn’t get past the press,” Gatlin said.
Dove Creek had eight second-quarter turnovers and the Bears outscored the home Bulldogs 26-5 to go into halftime with a 31-12 lead.
Dolores put the game out of reach to start the second half.
The third quarter began with six consecutive Dove Creek turnovers and six straight Dolores scores – including a 3-pointer by Madi Archuleta and two triples by Larissa Umberger – to extend the Bears’ lead to 46-12.
Dolores finished the third up 53-20, and although Dove Creek outscored them 10-3 in the fourth quarter, the Bears had built a comfortable lead and cruised to a 56-30 win.
Dolores got scoring help from ten different players, led by Archuleta’s 11 points.
Aryelle Wright scored multiple breakaway buckets to finish with nine, Tatum Majors’ nine points included a 3-pointer, and Umberger and Nichole Kibel each added eight.
Martin led the Bulldogs with 13, Johnson finished with eight and Maureen Bartley added five.
With Tuesday’s loss – and after falling at Ouray on Saturday, 23-19 – Dove Creek drops to 0-7 on the season and will next host Ridgway on Friday.
Dolores moves to 5-3 on the season with its second consecutive win coming back from the break.
On Saturday, the Bears were led by Kibel’s 15 points and 11 steals to take down Telluride 46-11.
Dolores will take on the Norwood Mavericks (7-1) on Friday in an away contest, and then the Bears are back at home on Saturday against the Ouray Trojans (4-3).