The Dolores Lady Bears (12-8) and Mancos Lady Blue Jays (10-10) will both advance to the regional tournament in Alamosa this weekend after winning games in the Class 2A District 3 tournament.
The two teams opened against each other on Friday, and the first half was a near carbon copy of their previous meeting.
Dolores used its full-court pressure to force Mancos turnovers and jumped out to an early 10-2 lead. But again, the Lady Jays fought back to trail 16-11 at the end of one, and 27-19 at the break.
The catalyst for the Lady Bears was freshman Aryelle Wright, who was able to leak out for easy baskets after Dolores forced turnovers. Wright scored 14 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 18.
“Once she gets in that open court, she's tough,” said Dolores head coach Larry Schwartz. “She's a track athlete too and it shows when she gets in the open court.”
Starting the second half with an eight-point lead, Schwartz just needed his team to hold on to close out the game.
“We talked about not taking any more outside jump shots and just upping the pressure with the presses,” he said. “Make sure we rebound, don't turn the ball over, and then we were able to kill some clock down the stretch.”
The Lady Bears outscored the Jays by eight in the third quarter, and although they began the frame working the ball inside – with the Blue Jays defense collapsing – Nicole Kibel splashed home two 3-pointers.
The Lady Jays got five third-quarter points from senior Jessica Gutierrez, four from Brittney Peacock and a free throw from Emily Cole, but Gutierrez, Cole and Nicole Hess all wound up in foul trouble, hurting their rotation.
“That was really what kind of set the tone in the second half,” said head coach Mallory Morgan. “It took us out of our element, took us out of game, and a few of us just didn't come out of the locker room.”
Mancos trailed 45-29 to start the fourth, and by committing more costly turnovers that led to Dolores breakaways, the Lady Bears went on to win, 58-38.
“We can't do that to ourselves,” Morgan said of her team's turnovers. “We know their transition game, but we were just throwing it away. And that was going to be the difference tonight. And it was. That's what hurt us.”
Wright's 18 points led the Lady Bears, Kibel finished with 12 and Larissa Umberger scored nine. The Lady Jays were led by Gutierrez' 16 points, and Peacock finished with 11.
The win over Mancos on Friday secured Dolores' spot in the regional tournament, but the Lady Jays were in need of a victory against Ridgway on Saturday to stay alive.
The Lady Jays and Demons played back-and-forth for three quarters, but Ridgway was able to build a 37-28 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
That's when Gutierrez and Peacock took over the Jays, propelling a 10-0 run to take a 38-37 lead with two minutes remaining.
Later, with the game tied at 41 and just 40 seconds to play, Mancos forced a Ridgway turnover and took possession with 35 seconds left.
The Lady Jays inbounded and worked the ball around the perimeter to burn clock until Ridgway fouled Gutierrez with nine seconds on the clock.
The senior connected on 1-of-2 free throws to take a 42-41 lead, and then junior Emma Most deflected the Demons' inbound pass to Peacock who was tied up. With the possession arrow pointing towards the Lady Jays, they were able to get the ball in and dribble out the final seconds to win, 42-41.
The victory secured the Jays' spot in the regional tournament this weekend.
And although Dolores was blown out by Ignacio in the district championship game on Saturday, 63-28, the Lady Bears' win over Mancos on Friday punched their ticket as well.
The two teams will travel to Alamosa this weekend in a bracket with Ignacio, Del Norte, Sanford, Sargent, Center and Custer County – with the top two teams advancing.
