Looking to advance to Regionals, the Dolores High School girls basketball team but came up short, losing 68-41 loss to Ridgway in the third place game of the Class 2A Region 3 Tournament.
Refusing to back down from the Tournament's second-seeded team, the fourth seeded Bears broke Ridgway's press early and trailed 22-17 at the end of the first quarter.
A three-point field goal from the left wing by junior guard Larissa Umberger cut Ridgway's lead to 24-20 and an elbow jumper by sophomore Teagan Hite soon after pulled Dolores to within two points.
Ridgway regained its composure however, and thanks in large part to 13 first half points from senior forward Rane Dickerson, carried a 39-26 lead into halftime.
Dickerson ended up with 17 points in the contest and sophomore guard Ara Norwood added a game-high 18.
Although Dolores continued to play hard throughout the second half, Ridgway's multifaceted attack and fast-paced motion offense proved too much as the Demons to victory.
"(Our team) fights hard," said Dolores head coach Larry Schwartz after the game. "They are fighters and we have eight of them coming back next year. I'm sad for our seniors, but I'm excited about the future."
Umberger led the Lady Bears with 11 points and junior Nicole Kibel and senior Taylor Elder each scored eight. Hite chipped in seven.
With the loss, Dolores finished its season with a 7-15 record overall. Despite their team's losses, Lady Bears' players agreed that their season was a valuable experience.
"It was a great season," said Elder. "I couldn't have asked for harder working, more supportive, teammates. "I'm just really thankful to have the opportunity to play on the team that I got to play on."
Senior forward Jessica Schliesser with Elder's sentiments before saying that she would always remember her teammates.
"The bond that you get from playing with other people is something that you never forget," said the Bears senior. "We hustled and that was one way to show how much heart we had for the game."