Nothing warms up a cold winter evening like a hotly contest hoops contest at the DHS Fieldhouse. The Bears have proven to be a tough team on their home floor over the past few years, and a new starting five for the Bears hopes to keep it that way.
Second-year head coach Joel Balderrama will field a group full of exuberance in 2022-23, a season after the Bears started four seniors in an 8-10 campaign. This year’s group, while short on extensive varsity minutes, looks to play fundamentally sound basketball to build momentum.
The Bears, after a 1-6 start with tournaments in the San Luis Valley and Rangely, stepped onto their home floor for the first time this season as Monticello paid a visit. After a feisty first half by the hosts kept them within 26-18, Monticello (2-4) used a series of transition buckets in the second half to pull away for a 53-26 win.
Sophomore Trayton Traweek and junior Ty Gaddis return to the floor as the Bears with the most varsity experience for Balderrama’s squad.
A number of seniors have emerged as part of a new wave of upperclassmen aim to take the Bears into contention in the balanced San Juan Basin League. Among the class of ’23 making immediate impacts for DHS, Michael Millard has proven himself to be a capable scorer in Balderrama’s offensive scheme.
Millard scored five of the team’s eight second half points, pacing the Bears with a team-high 10 in the contest.
After trailing 13-5 after eight minutes, the Bears used aggressive play around the rim in the second quarter to claw their way back into the contest. Senior Jairett West and Gaddis posted field goals in the frame, while the Bears dropped in 6-of-8 shooting at the line to keep the deficit single digits at the break.
West finished with seven points to go along with five from senior Vance McDonnel five points, as Dolores looked to use sharp cutting to help break down the Buckaroo zone. Senior Dylan Rantz and Gaddis battled in the post for rebounds, but second chances proved hard to come by.
Monticello answered with a game-high 21 points from Tommy Sheeran to put the game out of reach in a decisive 11-0 third quarter run.
The Bears showed the grit of an experienced program as they held off Antonito in their third contest of the season, picking up a 54-52 victory in Mosca for their first win, and fought well in close games against Ouray and North Park.
Now, DHS will look to use the holiday break to gear up for the San Juan Basin League schedule, which kicks off in the second week of January. A home game against Sargent on Jan. 10 will resume the campaign, before league play kicks off three days later against Telluride.
For head coach Tiffany Hill and the Dolores girls basketball team, a youthful squad looks to keep building for a bright San Juan Basin League season and beyond.
The Bears have one senior on the varsity roster – fourth-year standout Chandler Smith – while a large junior class hopes to keep establishing a foundation that can help the Bears back to their first winning season since 2015-16.
DHS opened the season at Sangre de Cristo, picking up their first win of the campaign over Antonito 35-30, before the Bears suffered defeats at the Western Slope Winter Classic in Rangely to sit at 1-6 through the first third of the season.
Playing at home for the second time this season, Dolores dropped their nonleague meeting against Monticello 44-25. In a bright sign for the Bears future, three freshmen led the way in scoring, paced by Taylor Erautt’s seven tallies.
Classmates Taylor Hampton and Keeley Clark scored six and five points, respectively, as the Bears put together a strong third quarter to hang tough with Monticello, trailing by 13 through the third frame.
The Bears have two more contests before the holiday break, as Hill’s team will take on the field at the Dove Creek Holiday Tournament on Dec. 16-17. After the turn of the calendar, Dolores takes on Sargent and Telluride to lift the lid on the SJBL schedule.
