Playing three games in five days, the Dolores High School boys basketball team suffered three tough losses.
Bears fall to Ridgway
The first of those losses came at home against Ridgway on Jan. 23 when the Bears imploded in the fourth quarter and lost 61-54. Dolores led 13-12 after the first quarter, 28-27 at halftime and 44-38 at the end of the third.
"That was a very winnable game and a heartbreaker," said Schwartz. "We were up 11 in the fourth quarter and the wheels came off."
Contributing to the Dolores loss were injuries to starters Mikeal Ford, Ben Lykins and Jalen Balderrama, who all missed significant portions of the fourth quarter.
Ford led Dolores in scoring with 21 points and five rebounds and Balderrama scored 11.
"(Ford) was playing his butt off and laying his heart on the line," said Schwartz. He was fighting through cramps, but still had a great game."
Ridgway senior Quinlin McNatt scored a game high 21 points and junior Grant Saville added 15.
Bears defeated by Newcomb
Playing at home against Newcomb on Jan. 24, Dolores was defeated 65-50. Despite the 15-point loss, Schwartz said that he was pleased with his team's effort.
"I was really proud of the effort that the boys put in," said Schwartz. "We played with a lot of heart. We were down 16 points at the end of the first quarter and we trailed by only three at halftime."
Bears overwhelmed by Mancos
Wrapping up their tough three-game stretch at home against Mancos on Jan. 27, Dolores was dominated by Mancos throughout a 63-28 loss.
After falling behind 17-4 by the end of the first quarter, Dolores continued to struggle, falling behind by as many as 22 points before Dolores junior Ben Lykins drilled a three-pointer from the left corner to cut the Mancos lead to 29-10.
Unable to contain Mancos post players Daniel Christiansen and Ro Paschal however, Dolores trailed 42-14 at halftime.
"We weren't playing as a team and we played a lot of one-on-one basketball," said Ford. "We were just being selfish and we have to take care of that if we want to win games down the stretch."
Josh McCoy provided one of the few highlights of the second half when he took a pass from Balderrama drilled a three-point field goal from the top of the key.
With the loss, Dolores fell to 2-10 on the season. Dolores will next play at home against Ignacio at 7 p.m. on Jan. 30.
""We have to play hard, not let up and keep going," said Bears senior Stetson Hamilton. "We want to get better and work harder."