Over the course the regular season, the Dolores High School girls basketball team produced mixed results on its way to a 7-12 record.
The Lady Bears did enough to qualify for the Class 2A District 3 Tournament however, which they entered as the fourth seeded team.
Dolores flies past Telluride
Opening the tournament at home on Feb. 25 with a pigtail game against the fifth-seeded Telluride Miners, the Lady Bears put together one of their finest performances of the season and won 78-28.
Key to the Bears victory was a suffocating full-court press and accurate shooting by junior guard Nicole Kibel, who hit four three-point field-goals and scored a game-high 16 points.
"I've learned throughout the season that I have to catch the ball and breath before I shoot," said Kibel. "When I have an open shot, I have to take it."
The Lady Bears led 19-6 at the end of the first quarter and 35-12 at halftime. Junior Teagan Hite scored 12 points and senior Larissa Umberger and freshman Josie Majors scored 10 points each.
Throughout all four quarters, Dolores remained patient and on several offensive possessions, every Lady Bears player on the court touched the ball. In the fourth quarter, Majors and fellow freshman Sierra Schwartz entered the game and helped the Lady Bears outscore Telluride 21-7 in the final frame.
"I think we played pretty good," said senior Taylor Elder, who had a game high 10 rebounds. "Everyone stuck together as a team and everyone got playing time. When those freshman came in, they did awesome and you really couldn't ask for anything else."
Dolores loses to top-seeded Ignacio
After defeating Telluride, Dolores advanced to the semifinal round of the District Tournament and faced top-seeded Ignacio in Cortez on Feb. 27.
Although the Lady Bears kept things somewhat close during the first two quarters and trailed 31-19 at halftime, Ignacio's offense eventually took over and Dolores was defeated 78-28.
"They jumped on us early in the first quarter and we fought our way back," said Dolores head coach Larry Schwartz. "They jumped on top of us again and we just couldn't recover."
Elder and Umberger led the Bears with six points each and Kibel chipped in five. Hilda Garcia led Ignacio with a game-high 19 points.
Next up for the Lady Bears will a District Tournament game game against either third-seeded Mancos or second-seeded Ridgway in Cortez at 10 a.m. on Feb. 28. The winner of that game will finish third in the District Tournament and advance to Regionals.
"I'm proud of our girls for being back in the District Tournament," said Schwartz. "We get to come back and fight for our playoff lives tomorrow and we'll see what we can do."