Larry Schwartz can breathe now.
But on Saturday night, in the final eight minutes of the Dolores Bears’ game against the Ridgway Demons, the Dolores head coach may have been struggling for air.
The Bears began the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead, but Ridgway’s pressure forced them into turnovers and quickly the visiting Demons pulled within eight.
Then six. Then three.
Then, with Dolores clinging to a 57-54 lead and just 11.7 seconds remaining, the Bears threw the ball away on an inbounds pass – and the oxygen was sucked out of the building.
Dolores had jumped out to an early 14-5 lead and had never trailed in the game, so the collapse would have been devastating. It would have been unthinkable. Unimaginable.
But luckily for the home team, it was also not to be.
Ridgway had an open 3-pointer in the corner with seconds remaining that would have tied the game, but the shot was just long and careened off the rim into Dolores senior Ben Lykins’ hands.
With 1.7 seconds left, Lykins coolly sank both free throws and the Bears held on to win, 59-54.
“It can’t be easy,” Schwartz said after the game. “It’s never easy with this group, but they’ve got heart. They fight and fight.”
Schwartz, the Bears and even those in attendance had trouble explaining the wackiness of the fourth quarter.
Ridgway pressed the Bears and the game sped to a torrid pace. It was quick, but it was sloppy. Both teams rushing back-and-forth down the court exchanging turnovers.
“It was kind of helter-skelter there at the end with both teams trying to figure out a way to win,” said Schwartz. “It was crazy. I don’t know what else to say, it was nuts.”
Dolores scored just two field goals in the final frame, but Lykins went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line to hold off the surging Demons.
“His freshman year he had to go into a game against Norwood and he missed like four or five down the stretch and it killed him,” explained Schwartz. “And he’s been in the rec center ever since working on his free throw game and he’s just clutch when he goes to the line.”
While the fourth quarter slide may have been frustrating for Schwartz, the manner in which his team found themselves up by 13 points to begin with was reassuring.
Sophomore Justin Purkat knocked down two 3-pointers in the first quarter and the hot-shooting Bears led 14-5 after one.
Purkat stayed locked in for the second, opening the frame with another triple.
“He’s a rhythm shooter,” said Schwartz. “He’s got one of the prettiest jump shots I’ve ever seen a kid have, especially a sophomore.”
Jalen Balderrama and Lykins each chipped in five in the quarter and Dolores led 29-17 at half.
“That’s got to be our best shooting half of the season,” Schwartz said. “In the first half we were on fire. But what got us there was we played really, really great defense.”
Balderrama scored the first seven points for the Bears in the third quarter – and he finished with nine in the frame – and Dolores pushed forward for a 13-point lead.
Then in the fourth, after Ridgway gave them quite a scare, the Bears held on to win.
“Ridgway always fights all the way to the end,” said Schwartz. “I give a lot of credit to Coach Hill and his kids, they’re warriors too.”
Balderrama led the Bears with his 19 points, Lykins finished with 15 and Purkat scored 12 points on four 3-pointers.
The Bears’ (4-13) final regular season game is set for Friday in Dolores against rival Mancos Blue Jays (7-10).