This time last year, the Dove Creek Bulldogs were entering the district tournament with an 8-11 record.
Two weeks later, they were state champions.
There are multiple similarities between last year’s team and the current squad, so Dove Creek is hoping to pull from the experience it gained during last season’s state championship run.
The Bulldogs head into the 2016 Class 1A District 1 Tournament on Friday with a 6-13 record, which leads head coach Curtis Garver to believe that his team needs to win the district title in order to secure a spot in the state tournament bracket.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean they feel tension.
“I think we were kind of feeling too much pressure early in the season,” said Garver. “But I think now they’re realizing it really doesn’t matter. It’s just whatever we can put together at the end of the season will either make or break us.”
The Bulldogs (6-13, 3-6 1A District 1) open against Cotopaxi (12-2, 5-1 1A District 1) on Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Ignacio.
Garver said that they don’t really know much about the Pirates, but that their records can be misleading.
“We have probably one of the toughest schedules in the state, so our record can be deceiving,” he said. “The only 1A team that we play is Nucla.”
And if both teams win their district opener, Dove Creek would see Nucla in the district championship for the second consecutive season.
Last year, the Bulldogs were 1-3 against the Mustangs. But after falling to Nucla in the district championship and still getting into the state tournament, Dove Creek won three straight to win the championship.
The Bulldogs are 0-3 against the Mustangs this season, but as they learned last season – anything is possible.
“It’s one of those things, that anything can happen in the district tournament,” Garver said. “And our boys know that.”
