In their first meeting earlier this season, the Dolores Lady Bears (11-7) defeated the Mancos Lady Blue Jays (8-9) by 20 points, 60-40.
But on Friday evening in Dolores, the Lady Jays were a different team.
After taking a 10-0 lead early, it appeared that the Lady Bears might run away with the game again. But the Jays finished the quarter on a 13-1 run – led by five points from senior Jessica Gutierrez and four from junior Brittney Peacock – to start the second with a 13-11 lead.
“I know the nerves, that’s just part of coming here and playing, nerves are going to get to you,” Mancos head coach Mallory Morgan said of her team’s slow start. “I kind of let them play through it. I don’t call timeouts a lot just because I know they can play through it.”
“They were able to penetrate the middle of our zone there after we got a good lead in the first quarter,” Dolores head coach Larry Schwartz said explaining the Jays’ comeback. “Once we stopped that bleeding then Peacock was able to hit a couple of shots and Gutierrez hit a couple of shots on us too. Then it was a dog fight after that.”
The Bears got scoring from seven different players in the second quarter, led by six points from senior Larissa Umberger, to outscore the visiting Blue Jays 20-9, and they entered the half with a 31-22 lead.
But considering that Gutierrez sat much of the quarter in foul trouble, Morgan was satisfied with the nine-point gap.
“When Jessica is not in the game, it makes a huge difference, and we know that,” she said. “She’s our catalyst, she’s our leader. We just threw the ball away too much in that last four minutes and that’s what hurt us a little bit. But to only be down by nine, was okay with that, because that means they did okay without Jessica in there.”
The teams continued the trend of alternating quarters in the second half, with the third belonging to the Blue Jays.
Both teams were scoreless for almost four minutes before Nicole Hess put in a free throw for the Jays. Nicole Kibel answered with a Dolores free throw on the other end, but it was the Lady Bears’ only point in the frame, and Mancos scored eight to pull within two to start the fourth.
“For whatever reason we went flat in the third quarter,” Schwartz said after the game. “Standing flat-footed and stuff, we looked tired. I think it’s the end of the season leg-fatigue, and we’re trying to manage that in practice but it showed up in the third quarter. But then the girls turned it on in the fourth.”
In the final quarter, Dolores was able to generate turnovers and push the tempo for breakaway scores to pull away. Freshman Aryelle Wright was able to break lose for eight points in the frame to push the Bears on to a 46-40 win.
“I was really proud of her,” said Schwartz. “All the girls stepped up. It was great on senior night for those girls to get that W.”
“Our turnovers are what hurt us in the end,” explained Morgan. “We threw the ball away way too many times and they played off that and were able to score.”
Wright led the Lady Bears with 14 points and Umberger was close behind with 12. Then Kibel added five, Tatum Majors and Tegan Hite each scored four, Josie Majors finished with three and Madi Archuleta and Breanna Maxwell each chipped in two.
Gutierrez led the Blue Jays with 13 points, Peacock finished with 12 and Hess with 10. Then Emily and Ashley Cole each scored two, and Emma Most chipped in a free throw.
The Lady Jays finished their regular season on Saturday with a 43-33 win over Ouray, and both Mancos and Dolores will begin postseason play in the district tournament on Friday in Cortez.