Dove Creek girls finish season with Senior Night, ninth straight winning season

Dove Creek closed the regular season with a blowout at The Dawg House, beating Dolores 54-15 as junior Taylor Hampton scored 22 points to lead all scorers. The win was part of a three-game stretch in five days that pushed the Bulldogs to a 7-2 Southern Junction Basketball League record and helped coach Julie Kibel’s program reach what she and community members described as the program’s ninth consecutive winning season.

The Journal’s sports pages captured the sweep headline: “Girls post 3-0 record, boys earn two wins.” In that five-day span Dove Creek defeated Telluride, rallied past M-CHS 50-39 and capped the run with the Dolores victory at home on Saturday. The scoring output followed up an 18-point effort in a come-from-behind win over M-CHS on Friday night, when Hampton’s strong second half guided the Bulldogs back from a double-figure deficit against the Panthers.

The Saturday game at The Dawg House featured multiple contributors behind Hampton’s scoring. Freshman Leah Barnett tallied eight points to join junior Hadley Hatfield and senior Ralynn Hickman with eight apiece in the win over the Bears. The Journal photo coverage showed Hampton looking to pass while teammate Mykaela Fury watched, and included a boys-game image of junior Josh Kibel going up against Dolores freshman Lane Johnson; photo credits on those images read Erika Alvero / Special to The Journal.

“With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Dove Creek basketball teams are doing what they’d want to do - play their best ball of the season,” the coverage noted, adding that “The Bulldogs are forging through the grind of injuries amid a busy schedule and continue to chalk up victories along the way.” The articles list injuries overall but do not specify which players have missed time or the nature of those injuries.

There is a discrepancy in available accounts about Senior Night timing. One account states the program “celebrated Senior Night at the end of February,” while The Journal’s preview says “Dove Creek will celebrate their collection of seniors on Tuesday night in The Dawg House when they play host to Mancos.” Those two statements cannot be reconciled from the published excerpts; the school’s athletic office or Coach Kibel can confirm the date and the roster of seniors honored.

After the Mancos matchup, Dove Creek was scheduled to travel to Ouray for a Friday meeting with the Bluejays; the girls game was slated to begin at 6 p.m. and the contest is available on radio station 98.7 FM KRTZ and on KRTZ’s website. With a 7-2 SJBL mark and momentum from the three-game sweep, Kibel’s Bulldogs head into the final weeks of league play aiming to convert their late-season form into postseason positioning while managing the injuries that have tested depth across the roster.