The Dolores Lady Bears’ success has come incrementally.
Two years ago, they finished the season 7-15 and were eliminated in the district tournament. Last year, they advanced to the regional tournament before falling to Sargent in the opening round and ending the season with a 12-9 record.
This year, the Lady Bears hope to take the next step forward, and they’ve got their sights set on a state tournament appearance.
“We definitely want to return to regionals, and we definitely have a team goal that we want to push to state,” said head coach Tiffany Hill. “That is their goal, and they’re ambitious and ready to fight for it.”
Taking over for Larry Schwartz, who resigned as head coach after last season, Hill hopes to keep the Bears moving forward.
Dolores lost five seniors from last year’s team to graduation, and leading scorer and rebounder Aryelle Wright transferred to Montezuma-Cortez. However, Hill expects a handful of returners to fill the void.
“I think that there’s a few girls that will step up,” she said. “I have one senior, Madi Archuleta, who will step up to that position, and I have some strong juniors that I believe will step up to that position as well.”
Hill noted Sierra Schwartz, Josie Majors and Sarah Hamilton as the juniors that she expects to spend time in the backcourt along with Archuleta. She also said that returning junior varsity players Codi Archuleta, Cameron Schafer and Kortni Spurlock will likely see playing time, and that the freshman class has shown potential.
And though sophomore Tatum Majors may be the Bears’ only real inside threat, their lack of size lends to the style of play that Hill plans to install.
“We’re not big, but we’re fast and aggressive,” she said. “We’re definitely going to be a running team. We’re going to be aggressive on defense and get steals and fast breaks.”
The Lady Bears will get the ball rolling on Tuesday, Nov. 29 with a scrimmage against Montezuma-Cortez. And then they’ll kick off the 2016-17 campaign on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Sangre de Cristo tournament.