{"id":23954,"date":"2025-01-19T16:49:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T23:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-wins-in-nail-biter-against-ouray\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:45:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:45:06","slug":"dolores-wins-in-nail-biter-against-ouray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-wins-in-nail-biter-against-ouray\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolores wins in nail-biter against Ouray"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dolores
Dolores junior Michael Rantz goes up for a basket while Ouray sophomore Wesley Rhoades plays defense.
\nErika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Dolores hosted their San Juan Basin League rivals, Ouray, and battled through some rough stretches to top the Trojans in Saturday\u2019s game at the Bears\u2019 gymnasium, 59-57.<\/p>\n

The Bears improve to 4-8 overall (2-2 in league play) with their win over the Trojans, kicking off a two-game win streak after a tough stretch of losses. This victory follows their win against county rival Mancos the night before.<\/p>\n

The girls\u2019 varsity game was not played, as Ouray was forced to forfeit due to not having enough players.<\/p>\n

Senior Trayton Traweek and sophomore Koby McClellan play solid games, with Traweek leading all scorers with 26 points and McClellan adding 22. Keaton Nelson led the Trojans with 20 points.<\/p>\n

The opening period saw Dolores staying on Ouray\u2019s toes as Nelson scored 11 points in the quarter, who was perfect from the field, including a 3-pointer. The Bears had four players get on the scoreboard, with McClellan driving to the basket for layups and earning an and-1, a play he continued to capitalize on throughout the game as he took control offensively.<\/p>\n

\"Ouray
Ouray junior Cavan Pasek jumps for a shot near the end of the Dolores-Ouray game.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal\n<\/p>

Ouray\u2019s rebounds allowed them to gain a slight advantage within the last minute of the first quarter to create a five-point lead, 19-14.<\/p>\n

Traweek found his rhythm in the second quarter, scoring 12 points with help from team assists under the basket. When Ouray\u2019s 6-foot-4 junior center, Cavan Pasek, clogged the paint, Traweek was able to kick the ball out to reset the offense. This ability to adjust and move the ball was one of the key factors Bears\u2019 head coach Nick Traweek credited for their big win.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve lost some games where we kind of lose our patience and try to force stuff.\u201d Traweek said. \u201cToday, we were patient and let the game come to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolores excelled in securing offensive rebounds, which helped them convert 12 of 9 field goals inside the paint, while Ouray made 7 of 5 field goal attempts. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, with the Bears missing all six of their 3-point attempts and the Trojans hitting just one of six. Dolores outscored Ouray 18-11 in the second quarter, giving them a slight 32-30 lead as they headed into the locker room at halftime.<\/p>\n

\"Bears
Bears senior Trayton Traweek takes a shot during the second half of Saturday\u2019s closely contested matchup.
\nErika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The second half was a back-and-forth battle, with both teams responding with points on each end. Dolores came out of halftime determined, as McClellan opened the quarter with a 3-pointer, followed by a 3-pointer from Traweek. However, Ouray kept the lead, never stretching it beyond two points. Nelson scored five points, and Wesley Rhoades added six field goals to help the Trojans maintain a slim lead, 44-43, by the end of the quarter.<\/p>\n

Dolores relied on a strong 2-3 zone defense for most of the game, using it to compensate for their offensive struggles. However, when they switched to a man-to-man defense, it proved ineffective. Ouray scored six points from backdoor cuts, taking advantage of missed assignments in Dolores\u2019 man-to-man coverage which led to the Trojans leading 52-45 with about four minutes left of the contest.<\/p>\n

The game intensified as Dolores rallied. Traweek hit another 3-pointer, and McClellan quickly followed with a layup on the next possession, cutting the Trojans\u2019 lead to just two points at the three-minute mark, 52-50. Ouray\u2019s Conner Hill, who scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, responded with key field goals to help maintain the Trojans\u2019 lead. By the two-minute mark, Ouray led 57-53.<\/p>\n

McClellan knocked down another 3-pointer to keep the game close, with support from Traweek and sophomore Miles Brown. Their combined efforts tied the game at 57-57 with a minute remaining.<\/p>\n

\"Bears
Bears senior Trayton Traweek goes up for a basket while being defended by Trojans junior Cavan Pasek.
\nErika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Bears controlled the next possession, taking full advantage of Colorado\u2019s no-shot-clock rule by holding the ball for most of the final minute. With 20 seconds left, Traweek drove in for a layup, giving Dolores a 59-57 lead.<\/p>\n

The Trojans quickly pushed the ball down the court to force overtime, but their shot missed, and they could not get off another attempt in time, sealing the win for Dolores.<\/p>\n

Coach Traweek thought his team\u2019s efforts in their game against Ouray pointed to a turning point in Dolores\u2019 season.<\/p>\n

It was a big turning point for us,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just learned how being patient can help win games, and I really think that\u2019s going to boost their confidence to win like that. And confidence can be everything in basketball sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Traweek also praised the Traweek and McClellan duo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey weren\u2019t playing scared and were attacking the basket,\u201d Traweek said. \u201cThey were playing off each other and their teammates were recognizing they were having good games and encouraged them which made it a team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dolores basketball teams are looking ahead to their trip to Montezuma-Cortez on Thursday, followed by a visit to Nucla on Friday. They will host a series of games starting with Dove Creek on Jan. 25, Durango on Jan. 27, Ridgway on Jan. 28, then Telluride on Jan. 31.<\/p>\n

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

Trayton Traweek and sophomore Koby McClellan lead team to victory<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[600,38,28,679,29,1489],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-basketball","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-high-school-boys-basketball","tag-newsletter","tag-ouray"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23954","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=23954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78336,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23954\/revisions\/78336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23954"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}