Inspired by an opposing coach’s comments, an inspired Dolores basketball team took the court and raced past Nucla, 85-25, on Feb. 4.
Head coach Larry Schwartz explained that the seeds for the Bears’ blowout were sown when Ignacio coach Chris Valdez referred to the Dolores defense as “mediocre” after a game on Feb. 2.
“We kind of took offense to what Ignacio said in the newspaper about us being a mediocre defense, so I wrote it on the board,” Schwartz said “The boys were really fired up. Anyway, we wanted to come out and prove a point.”
Dolores employed a full-court press throughout the first quarter that resulted in multiple turnovers by overwhelmed Nucla guards. Such turnovers resulted in several fast-break baskets for the Bears, and by the time the first-quarter onslaught finally ceased with a three-pointer by senior Tristan Holgate, the Bears led 37-7.
Throughout the second quarter, Nucla’s troubles continued thanks to several physical offensive rebounds and put-backs by sophomore Tristan Swaggerty, who scored a game-high 18 points.
Things became so bad for Nucla that exhausted junior Joshua Corbitt elected to adjust his shoe rather than play defense. Schwartz alerted referees, and play was blown dead before the Bears could score.
By the end of the half, the Dolores lead had grown to 57-15, and two minutes into the third quarter, Bears starters took a seat on the bench.
Dolores bench players maintained the energy and built a 75-18 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Among the second unit’s impressive players was muscular senior forward Kale Willbanks, who utilized his strength inside and finished with four points.
Also making significant impacts were junior Josh Corbitt, who scored 8 points, sophomore Thaddeus Lee, who scored 7, and sophomore Phillip Hufman, who scored four.
“The younger guys are really coming on,” Schwartz said. “The whole second group did a fantastic job.”
Senior Tristan Medina scored 16 points, D.K. Smith chipped in nine, and Holgate scored eight, including two three-pointers.
“Some days, I feel like I could hit a three from almost anywhere, and other days they just don’t fall,” Holgate said. “Today, they were definitely falling and it felt good.”
Dolores (8-7 overall, 4-4 in SJBL) will play at home against Norwood (7-7 overall, 5-3 in SJBL) on Feb. 9 before hitting the road to face Ridgway (2-13 overall, 0-7 in SJBL) on Feb. 10.
