The Lady Bears basketball team was favored at home Saturday over rival Mancos.
Dolores took care of business with a 49-39 win, snapping a four-game losing streak. The Lady Bluejays didnt make it easy, though.
Mancos rode into town with momentum after a thrilling 42-40 overtime win at Nucla on Friday night. Taylor Goff hit the game winning jumper with one second left. The Lady Bluejays (4-10, 3-6 2A/1A San Juan Basin League) were very motivated Saturday.
We all really wanted to win today. Especially, on their home court, Mancos senior captain Erica Blackburn said. Before the game, coach said, Theyre expecting to stomp us, so lets stop them. All we have to do is play our game.
Blackburn and fellow senior Jacey Cox worked their way inside and out against the Dolores (8-8, 6-4 SJBL) defense. The Lady Bears had no answer for them. But Dolores has some potent offensive weapons, too.
Cydney McHenry, Lexi Atkinson and Brianna Schwartz muscled their way inside for points in the paint and earned trips to the free-throw line. Atkinson also provided hoops from the outside, as the Lady Bears built a 27-17 halftime lead.
Although Dolores was seemingly in control for most of the game, it couldnt quite pull away.
The Lady Bluejays stayed in the game with scrappy defense from Andie Paschal and Blackburn.
Dolores built its biggest lead at 41-23 at the end of the third quarter. Mancos chipped away in the fourth with strong outside shooting. Kayla Goff hit a 3-pointer and Cox hit two jumpers off the inbounds. Blackburns 15-footer brought the Lady Bluejays to within eight at 47-39 late in the game. But Schwartz later sank two free throws for the final margin.
I think were just trying to steadily get better, Mancos coach Craig Paschal said. At the beginning of the year, we were much more conservative offensively. Now, were starting to open things up a little bit more. Dolores played very, very well. They moved the ball well.
Lady Bears coach John McHenry was pleased with his teams offensive play.
The offense was a lot better. We were clicking, he said. We were running through it and getting good shots. We were definitely running through our progressions and getting timely shots. We also had good depth in the paint. It was good.
Cydney McHenry scored a game high 17 points for Dolores. Schwartz had 12, and Atkinson totaled 11 points and seven rebounds.
Weve really been working on our patience in practice, Atkinson said. If we have the patience and move the ball around, were going to find an open shot. We had a lot of open shots on the cuts. That really worked out well for us.
Cox paced Mancos with 14 points and Blackburn recorded 12.
I felt like we did a lot better, said Blackburn regarding the last game against Dolores, a 34-24 loss. We definitely improved on our offense. Id like to have a rematch again. I think we keep getting better every game.
Dolores will play a nonconference game tonight at 3A Bayfield at 5:30 p.m.
Mancos travels to Ignacio on Friday at 5:30 p.m., and hosts Ridgway on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.
