Dove Creek Bulldogs Rally in Overtime to Sweep Dolores Doubleheader

A late surge and clutch plays lifted Dove Creek to a 48-42 overtime victory over Dolores, and the Bulldogs’ girls completed the sweep with a 43-21 win Saturday afternoon at Dove Creek. The boys comeback erased an early deficit and kept Dove Creek squarely in league contention, while the girls remained unbeaten in San Juan Basin League play.

Trailing by as many as eight points in the first half, Dove Creek closed the gap to 24-20 at halftime before a third-quarter run put the Bulldogs up 35-30 midway through the fourth quarter. Dolores sophomore Lane Johnson tied the game in the final seconds of regulation with a lay-in to send the contest to overtime. Johnson opened the extra session with a score, but senior Jonathan Davis converted a driving layup to knot the score again. Senior Trevan Ivie then gave Dove Creek the lead for good with a stick-back bucket with under two minutes remaining in overtime. Davis added another basket and free throws from Ivie and Nicholas Aragon sealed the 48-42 win.

Ivie finished with 16 points, Aragon scored 13, and freshman Kycen Gritz added 10. Davis scored seven points, and Dolores’ Koby McClellan led the Bears with 12 points. The victory improved Dove Creek boys to 3-9 overall and 2-1 in 3A/2A/1A SJBL play, while Dolores fell to 8-6 and 3-2 in league games. With five of the league’s seven teams sitting above .500, every conference win carries outsized importance, and Dove Creek will have a chance to take first place when the Bulldogs travel to face league-unbeaten Nucla on Tuesday.

The Dove Creek girls pushed their league record to 3-0 and their overall mark to 9-3 after storming past Dolores with a decisive second-half effort. Dove Creek outscored Dolores 34-7 in the final 20 minutes to turn a competitive early game into a 43-21 victory. Under head coach Julie Kibel’s nine-year tenure, Dove Creek girls have lost just six SJBL games, a run that keeps the Bulldogs tied atop the league ahead of Tuesday’s first-place showdown at Nucla.

Beyond the scores, the sweep matters to Dolores County in ways that reach past the scoreboard. Local high school athletics provide routine opportunities for community gathering, youth development, and mental health support at a time when rural schools face pressure on resources and travel logistics. Dove Creek’s narrow overtime win and the girls’ sustained excellence offer a morale boost for the town and a reminder of how investment in small-school sports yields social as well as competitive returns.

Dolores will regroup with home and road tests against Ridgway and Telluride coming up this week, while Dove Creek heads to Nucla looking to turn Saturday’s momentum into a league title push. The next several games will show whether Dove Creek can sustain performance and whether county supporters can keep rallying behind programs that matter for both community cohesion and youth opportunity.