For the second consecutive game, the Dolores girls basketball team brought fans to their feet in a nail-biter of a game.
Again, the Lady Bears came up just short, falling to Nucla, 45-38, in overtime on Feb. 4.
Much like they did against Ignacio two days earlier, Dolores looked to senior Madi Archuleta, who responded with big shots, including a three-pointer that beat the first-quarter buzzer and put the Lady Bears ahead, 13-10.
The Lady Bears’ long-range onslaught continued in the second quarter. Junior Sierra Schwartz and freshman McKenzie Howerton, each drained three-point buckets on the way to 22-17 halftime lead.
Buoyed by two threes from Archuleta in the third, Dolores entered the final eight minutes of the game with a 32-22 lead.
Things began to unravel for the Lady Bears early in the final quarter when a Dolores pass ricocheted off a referee’s leg into the hands of a Nucla player, who scored a layup to cut Dolores’ lead to 32-27.
Later, Nucla sophomore Taryn Sickles drained a three-pointer to cut the Lady Bears lead to 37-32, and senior Tayla Sickles took advantage of a clearly tired Lady Bears defense to drill another three to cut the Dolores lead to 37-35 with 2:55 remaining.
Tayla Sickles then tied the game with a layup at 2:10, and the game headed to overtime.
With Archuleta and Tatum Majors on the bench through most of overtime after each player fouled out, the Lady Bears could not hold back Nucla, losing 45-38.
Archuleta said fatigue took its toll.
“Considering how many games we’ve had this week, we were all exhausted emotionally and physically,” she said. “We just gave it our all.”
Head coach Tiffany Hill agreed, adding that they need a little more confidence.
“These girls are talented girls,” she said. “They just have to believe that they can finish when they are leading four quarters.”
Archuleta scored 16 points for the Lady Bears, Howerton had eight, Tatum Majors had six, and Sierra Schwartz had five.