Nucla 49, Mancos 37 (Thursday)
Dolores 47, Telluride 28 (Friday)
Mancos 65, Ridgway 61 (OT) (Saturday)
Dolores 40, Ouray 36 (Saturday)
Dove Creek 42, Telluride 11 (Saturday)
The weekend opened with the Bluejays nearly unseating the defending San Juan Basin League champions in Bluejay Fieldhouse. Mancos played even with the Mustangs for three quarters before the visitors pulled away late to stay unbeaten in league play. Sophomore Tinsley Aspromonte scored 16 points in the loss to Nucla, while senior Destiny Kramer and junior Chelsey Kramer added nine and eight points, respectively.
Mancos (4-8, 2-4 3A/2A/1A SJBL) responded well on Saturday with a road shootout victory against the Demons, even after Ridgway tied up the game at the end of regulation at 51 apiece. In the extra session, the Jays outscored Ridgway 14-10 to earn a big road win to boost their CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index ranking. Their 65 points is also the most scored by the program in two years.
Dolores (7-9, 4-3 3A/2A/1A SJBL) pulled level with Ridgway for third-place in the league standings courtesy of their two road wins over the Miners and Trojans in a span of less than 24 hours. Sophomore Emilynn Hill paced the Bears with 19 points in the win over Telluride, as classmate Jordyn Erautt tallied 11 and senior Taylor Erautt chipped in with eight.
In their meeting with Ouray, DHS held a double figure lead well into the second half, but had to withstand a furious Trojans rally to hold on for the four-point victory.
Dove Creek (10-4, 4-1 3A/2A/1A SJBL) made it nine straight seasons with double digit wins – coinciding with the span in which head coach Julie Kibel took the reins – after they turned a close game into a blowout victory. The ‘Dogs held a slim 8-6 lead after the opening quarter, but shut out the Miners in both the second and third quarters to seize control.
Senior Taylor Hampton continued her strong season with 23 points to pace the hosts, while classmate Hadley Hatfield scored all of her 11 points in the first half. Seniors Allex Williams and Ambrynn Huffaker, along with juniors Kaybree Smith and Mykaela Fury each added a pair of points as DC continues to stay just one game back of league-leading Nucla.
Action resumes on Tuesday for the entire league, as Dove Creek travels to Ouray, Dolores travels to Monticello, and Mancos visits Montezuma-Cortez in a game that can be heard on local radio station KRTZ 98.7 FM and online at krtzradio.com.
Nucla 77, Mancos 43 (Thursday)
Telluride 44, Dolores 41 (Friday)
Telluride 45, Dove Creek 39 (Saturday)
Ridgway 54, Mancos 31 (Saturday)
In a tough weekend for the area SJBL boys teams, Mancos (1-11, 0-6 3A/2A/1A) played some of their best basketball of the season in stretches of their battles against the Mustangs and Demons. In the second and third quarters of their Thursday night home defeat, the Jays were only outscored 28-26 by the No. 1 team in the 1A classification in the CHSAA rankings. However, the opening quarter put the hosts in too deep of a hole to overcome.
Then on the road in Ridgway, Mancos once again put together a solid two quarters, hanging within 26-21 at the intermission against the defending league champs before a lengthy third quarter drought doomed the Jays bid for their second win of the season. Junior Michael Resner led the Jays with 11 points against Nucla, while senior Noah Higinbotham added seven and juniors AJ Simmons, Michael Krupa, and James Potts tallied six apiece.
After a first half that saw Dolores (9-7, 4-3 3A/2A/1A) leading at the intermission against Telluride, 18-14, the Miners flipped the script in the third quarter, building a double-digit advantage, then holding off a late Bears charge to sweep their season series. DHS sits in fourth place in the SJBL standings, while the Miners stay within one game of league-leading Nucla.
Dove Creek (3-11, 2-3 3A/2A/1A) nearly picked up another signature league win, but couldn’t put the finishing touches on a tough home loss to Telluride. Senior Trevan Ivie’s 13-point third quarter kept the hosts within four points through three stanzas, but the visitors came up with multiple steals in the closing minutes to thwart the Bulldogs comeback hopes. Ivie finished with 19 while classmate Nicholas Aragon also tallied double figures with 11 points.
Dove Creek takes on Ouray on Tuesday night, while Dolores looks to avenge a loss from earlier this season against Monticello on the same evening, while the Mancos boys next return to action on Thursday with a home contest against Telluride.
