Dove Creek hosted the Bulldog Classic last weekend in its final action before the holiday break.
The Lady Bulldogs opened on Friday against De Beque, falling 40-22.
Kris Johnson and Mikayla Hankins led with six points each, and Marissa Hatfield added five. Madilyn Hankins led in rebounds with seven, and Mikayla Hankins finished with six.
On Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs took on Caprock Academy, losing 33-14.
Johnson again led in scoring, with five points, and she also grabbed five rebounds.
Marissa Hatfield chipped in four points, and Mikayla Hankins grabbed three boards in the contest.
The Lady Bulldogs enter the holiday break at 0-5, but will attempt to get their first win coming back from the break against Ouray on Jan. 9.
“We will be working a lot of fundamentals to try and improve our passing and dribbling skills,” head coach Angie Gatlin said in an e-mail describing the team’s schedule over the break.
“Also, we will be working on being more aggressive on offense and attacking the basket. And a lot of shooting.”
While the Dove Creek girls were 0-2 in the Bulldog Classic, the boys went undefeated at 2-0.
On Friday, the Bulldogs beat De Beque, 65-45.
“The intensity wasn’t there on Friday versus De Beque,” head coach Ty Gray said in an email. “But we did what we had to do to get the win.”
One of the ways the Bulldogs earned the victory was by getting to the line.
Jordan Ernst shot 22 free throws in the game, hitting 15 and scoring a game-high 25 points. He also finished with 10 rebounds and nearly recorded a triple-double with eight assists.
Beau Hemphill and Scott Gatlin each finished with double-doubles, as Hemphill scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Gatlin added 12 points and pulled down 11 boards.
Coach Gray called Saturday’s 59-36 win over Monument Valley his team’s “best defensive game of the year.”
“They were aggressive all night on defense and dominated the boards,” he said. “Jordan (Ernst) had a good weekend controlling the game and Scott (Gatlin) had a big game Saturday.”
Ernst again flirted with a triple-double, scoring 16 points and dishing out 11 assists, also coming up with nine steals and six rebounds, and Gatlin recorded his third consecutive double-double, leading the team in scoring and rebounds with 17 points and 17 boards.
Kyle Schultz added eight points and Hemphill, Dante Gallegos and Ryan Delano each scored six.
Dove Creek is now 4-1 on the season and will start back up after holiday break in an away game against Ouray on Jan. 9.
