{"id":15153,"date":"2025-12-21T11:08:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T18:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dove-creek-bulldogs-split-at-bulldog-classic-as-nucla-stays-unbeaten\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:45:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:45:15","slug":"dove-creek-bulldogs-split-at-bulldog-classic-as-nucla-stays-unbeaten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dove-creek-bulldogs-split-at-bulldog-classic-as-nucla-stays-unbeaten\/","title":{"rendered":"Dove Creek Bulldogs split at Bulldog Classic as Nucla stays unbeaten"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Taylor Hampton absorbs contact as she goes up for a shot against Monticello in the Bulldog Classic in the Dawg House. Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

DOVE CREEK \u2013 The holiday break for prep winter sports offers mixed perspectives: for some, a pause in momentum; for others, a fresh start.<\/p>\n

League play begins in January, so all teams start 2026 at 0-0 in the San Juan Basin League.<\/p>\n

The Dove Creek Bulldog Classic offered both programs an early test before league play resumes. The Bulldogs girls beat Monticello 54-36, then fell to defending SJBL champion Nucla 51-20 in the title game.<\/p>\n

The boys stayed close but dropped games to Monticello (47-30) and Telluride (61-43).<\/p>\n

\"Dove
Dove Creek junior Mykaela Fury takes contact in a game against Monticello in the Bulldog Classic in the Dawg House. Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Hadley Hatfield attacks two Buckaroo defenders as she races upcourt in a game against Monticello in the Bulldog Classic in the Dawg House. Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
D.C. girls own paint versus Buckaroos, go cold against Mustangs<\/div>\n

Head coach Julie Kibel continues to lean on senior leadership during the Bulldogs\u2019 recent success. The Class of \u201926 knows Kibel\u2019s system and takes ownership on the floor.<\/p>\n

In the opener against Monticello, seniors scored 42 of the team\u2019s 54 points in a decisive win. Senior post Taylor Hampton led with 20 points; Hadley Hatfield added 10. Five others scored: Allex Williams (7), Mykaela Fury (6) and Ambrynn Huffaker (5).<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of our new starters (Williams, Fury, and Huffaker) are getting more confident \u2013 we\u2019ve had some new offenses, new looks and lots of drills,\u201d said Kibel, \u201cand one thing has never changed \u2013 these kids have the heart, grit and desire. We\u2019re leaning on everyone to become shooters, because we can\u2019t have other teams just keying in one or two players.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Day 2, D.C. trailed 14-11 at halftime but saw the deficit grow to 17 as Nucla earned its second win over the Bulldogs (4-3) this season. Hampton scored 11 points but battled foul trouble as the Bulldogs settled for runner-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most fun parts of this group has been watching them develop \u2013 you can see their eyes light up and do things that they may not have thought they could do before,\u201d added Kibel.<\/p>\n

Nucla (8-0) had four players in double figures, led by juniors Lantry Galley and Shay Snyder with 14 each.<\/p>\n

D.C. faces Nucla twice in January and February and Monticello again Jan. 20 in the Border War. League play begins Jan. 13 at home vs. Mancos.<\/p>\n

\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Trevan Ivie elevates for a shot against four Buckaroo defenders in a game against Monticello in the Bulldog Classic in the Dawg House. Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Bobby Pastorius attacks two Buckaroo defenders as he drives to the rim in a game against Monticello in the Bulldog Classic in the Dawg House. Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Bulldog boys looking for offensive rhythm heading into New Year<\/div>\n

Midway through the third quarter against Telluride, senior Trevan Ivie scored on a drive \u2013 part of a career-high 28 points. The 6-foot-5 senior scored 20 of the team\u2019s 26 second-half points.<\/p>\n

Telluride built a first-half lead with a flurry of 3-pointers, but head coach Teresa Martin saw progress despite a 1-6 start.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys continue to battle all the way to the end,\u201d said Martin. \u201cWe\u2019re still going through some growing pains, but it\u2019s still a work in progress. I\u2019m proud of them for keeping their heads through all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The night before, D.C. trailed Monticello late despite Nicholas Aragon\u2019s 18 points. The Bulldogs aim to improve consistency before league play.<\/p>\n

Ivie scored 10 points vs. Monticello despite foul trouble, and Martin praised his leadership from the bench. \u201cHe helped coach the kids while he was out of the game \u2013 and that showed me a lot about his leadership,\u201d added Martin.<\/p>\n

Telluride\u2019s Miguel Sanchez hit five 3-pointers for 15 of his 17 points. Nucla beat Monticello 59-47 for the boys title.<\/p>\n

D.C. plays four of its first six games on the road, including trips to Ridgway (Jan. 17) and Nucla (Jan. 27).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ready to come into work next week and get started with a clean slate,\u201d said Martin.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

win over Monticello before falling to Nucla; boys show fight in losses to Monticello and Telluride<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15153"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20712,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15153\/revisions\/20712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15153"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}