{"id":29226,"date":"2024-02-13T22:41:14","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T05:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bulldogs-defend-turf-win-league-on-senior-night\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:51:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:51:43","slug":"bulldogs-defend-turf-win-league-on-senior-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bulldogs-defend-turf-win-league-on-senior-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulldogs defend turf, win league on Senior Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dove
Dove Creek seniors Kylie (34) and Kalie (33) Gatlin and Halee Beanland (23) enjoy an inside joke while awaiting the playing of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d on Feb. 12.Joel Priest\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

DOVE CREEK \u2013 The Dawg House is more than a home court advantage \u2013 it\u2019s a fortress.<\/p>\n

For the past four-plus seasons, no one has been able to step onto the Dove Creek girls\u2019 basketball court and walk away with a victory. Few have even come close.<\/p>\n

In their Monday night celebration of Senior Night, the Bulldogs continued to cement an already-ironclad legacy, officially capturing their fourth straight San Juan Basin League crown, while also posting their eye-popping 36th consecutive win on their home floor. Their 64-16 thumping of Telluride served as a victory lap on a night where the Bulldogs held a small pregame ceremony to honor their three seniors, who have full intentions of making sure that their final home game won\u2019t come until March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s OK for other people to win on our court,\u201d said senior Halee Beanland. \u201cAnd we want to keep it going \u2013 we don\u2019t want let it go after this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead at the district tournament on Feb. 23-24, the Bulldogs will hold the top seed when they travel to Olathe, where a district title would entitle the Bulldogs to host a 1A regional site.<\/p>\n

\"Dove
Dove Creek coach Julie Kibel congratulates seniors Halee Beanland (23) and Kalie Gatlin (33) on Senior\/Parent Appreciation Day after the Bulldogs defeated Telluride on Feb. 12. Joel Priest\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The three seniors \u2013 Kalie and Kylie Gatlin, and Beanland \u2013 have formed the backbone of a program that has posted a record of 72-9 in their four seasons under head coach Julie Kibel, a run that has included back-to-back trips to the 1A state tournament.<\/p>\n

Their latest ongoing ambition, the home winning streak that dates to January 2020, shows signs of the resilience of the program, even as they\u2019ve had a target on their backs the entire stretch. Extending the streak to 38 straight would mean they\u2019re on their way to a third consecutive trip to Greeley.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the grit of this team \u2013 even if we have a letdown, we just keep going,\u201d said Beanland. \u201cWe\u2019re so driven to do all the things that will get us ready for the next play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gatlin twins undoubtedly have been the focal point of every scouting report \u2013 and for good reason. Kylie tops the league in scoring average while Kalie, like she did on the volleyball court, leads the team in assists. Yet, it\u2019s the balance of the Bulldogs that make them so dangerous.<\/p>\n

Junior Ralynn Hickman is averaging double figures, while sophomores Taylor Hampton and Hadley Hatfield have upped their scoring prowess throughout the season. Hampton matched a career-high 16 points against the Miners, just two days after Hatfield boasted a career-high 12 points against Dolores.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve spent so much time together, now it\u2019s like we\u2019re a family, rather than just a team,\u201d added Beanland. \u201cTt\u2019s exciting for me to be able to be with these girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beanland, meanwhile, does just about everything else for Kibel\u2019s squad, providing sturdy defense and rebounding \u2013 and just like every teammate, is encouraged to look to score. \u201cI was told before the season that I was going to have to step up,\u201d said Beanland, who played junior varsity last year, \u201cand I\u2019ve been so excited to take on this new role.\u201d<\/p>\n

The road back to the promised land requires the Bulldogs head through Nucla for their final regular season game on Friday, Feb. 16, before making the trip to Olathe for the 1A District 1 tournament. If all goes to plan, the Bulldogs would find themselves back on their home floor to host another regional on March 1-2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Class of 2024 continues legacy of dominance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28522,"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-29226","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\/29226","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=29226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80674,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29226\/revisions\/80674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29226"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=29226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}