GREELEY – Oh, what a difference a decade makes. Or not.
That’s what Dove Creek’s players, coaches and travel-ready fans all hoped on Saturday.
Completing a fourth consecutive appearance in the CHSAA Class 1A Girls’ Basketball State Championships’ Great Eight phase, and facing Idalia for the first time since March 15, 2014, the Bulldogs fended off the Wolves 46-40 to win the consolation title at University of Northern Colorado’s Bank of Colorado Arena.
Ironically, the consolation championship was at stake when the two sides last squared off. Dove Creek won that previous matchup as well.
The Lady Bulldogs went into the season’s fourth and final frame ahead 31-24, and Kylie Gatlin promptly pierced through the paint for an easy two-pointer, and was the recipient of Wieser’s fourth foul setting her up for the aforementioned and-one.
Gatlin totaled 14 points on Saturday, including nine points in the fourth quarter. She converted a conventional three-point play with 4:48 remaining in regulation – giving the Lady Bulldogs a 38-28 lead, which proved to be too much for Idalia to overcome.
Idalia later shortened the deficit to 42-36 via a trey by sophomore Tatum Soehner, but a Gatlin bucket and two free throws by Dove Creek junior Ralynn Hickman with only 12.7 ticks left adequately sewed up the Bulldogs’ 80th victory overall in the last four seasons.
All told, Bulldogs junior Ralynn Hickman went 10-of-10 from the charity stripe and scored a game-high 20 points.
Senior Kalie Gatlin ended up with six points via two treys, plus seven assists. Sophomore Hadley Hatfield contributed four points and four steals.
