{"id":41827,"date":"2022-03-07T17:54:33","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T17:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dove-creek-boys-bounce-state-champs-belleview\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:03:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:03:22","slug":"dove-creek-boys-bounce-state-champs-belleview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dove-creek-boys-bounce-state-champs-belleview\/","title":{"rendered":"Dove Creek boys bounce state champs Belleview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Junior
Junior Kade Hankins receives congratulations from Westminster Belleview Christian coach Timothy Owen, and Dove Creek coach Aaron Hankins applauds after the Bulldogs upset Belleview 47-45 in the 1A Region I, Bracket 2 final Saturday. Also pictured: senior Chorbin Cressler (4) and sophomore Logan Drummond (3).<\/span>Joel Priest<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

GRAND JUNCTION \u2013 With 5 minutes, 50 seconds left in the eight-minute third quarter Saturday afternoon, Dove Creek fans inside Grand Junction High School gym were on edge as star junior Kade Hankins was benched after a third personal foul.<\/p>\n

Seconds later, Ryan Jarmon \u2013 whose first three-pointer got the Bulldogs on the scoreboard, whose second kept the Bulldogs within two, 12-10, and whose third put Dove Creek ahead 17-14 just 5:28 minutes before halftime \u2013 was rejected by Westminster Belleview Christian\u2019s 6-foot-5 Nathaniel Owen, the defending 1A state champions\u2019 top two-way threat.<\/p>\n

But as Belleview appeared ready to break free, junior Bulldog Tanner Williams banked in a two-pointer and Jarmon drilled his second attempted shot of the half \u2013 another three-ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had total faith in them, knew they could do it,\u201d Hankins said of his teammates, who increased a shaky 23-22 lead to 32-25 during his time on the bench. \u201cWe\u2019d become such a great team the last couple weeks, playing some great basketball and finally showing everybody that we\u2019re a top-ranked team in this state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The Dove Creek Bulldogs celebrate their 47-45 upset of defending Class 1A state champion Westminster Belleview Christian in the 1A-Region I, Bracket 2 final on Saturday.<\/span>Joel Priest<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Ryan Jarmon attempts a running hook shot over Westminster Belleview Christian\u2019s Nathaniel Owen Saturday at Grand Junction High School.<\/span>Joel Priest<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek junior Tanner Williams challenges Westminster Belleview Christian\u2019s Davin Hunter for a rebound Saturday at Grand Junction High School.<\/span>Joel Priest<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek junior Kendall Gardner shoots the Bulldogs\u2019 game-clinching free throw against Westminster Belleview Christian in the Class 1A, Region I championship Saturday at Grand Junction High School.<\/span>Joel Priest<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek junior Kade Hankins receives congratulations from Westminster Belleview Christian\u2019s Levi Fossey after the Bulldogs\u2019 47-45 upset of the defending Class 1A state champion Bruins.<\/span>Joel Priest<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Trailing 32-29 to start the fourth quarter, thanks to sophomore Matthew Norman\u2019s trey with 0:03 left in the third, Belleview Christian hadn\u2019t looked like a championship team against Dove Creek\u2019s zone defense, except for Owen\u2019s 11 points and sophomore guard Jagga Sandhu\u2019s seven.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that (Owen) was going to be the guy to cover, so we planned on double-teaming him in our 2-3,\u201d said Dove Creek head coach Aaron Hankins. \u201cWe know he could score whenever he wanted to, but we did a good job today of shutting him down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time (No. 11) got in the paint we just double-teamed him,\u201d junior Kendall Gardner, who also finished the third quarter with three fouls. \u201cNone of the rest of their team could do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is, until the final 46 seconds.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs had rebuilt their lead to 37-32 with a Williams free throw and back-to-back Kade Hankins scores in the fourth quarter\u2019s opening three minutes. They later maxed it out at 46-39 after Gardner hit one free throw and Hankins followed with two.<\/p>\n

Then, with less than a minute remaining, Belleview showed its resolve.<\/p>\n

Sandhu sank his third three in the game to bring the Bruins back to 46-42, and Owen followed it with another. With 15.9 seconds left, he was fouled by Jarmon but clanked what could have been two game-winning free throws. The ball ended up in Gardner\u2019s hands and he was fouled, not much time having elapsed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had some big, tall guys who could jump up there and grab the rebounds,\u201d said Kade Hankins. \u201cWe had to get every board to win this game, and that\u2019s what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Able to hit one of two tries, Gardner ensured that only a Belleview 3-pointer would steal the day after Williams missed two FTs with 10.8 ticks remaining.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what the Bruins planned.<\/p>\n

Coming out of a timeout with 0:06.8 left on the clock, Belleview launched a three from the left wing but it was off-target.<\/p>\n

Dove Creek players, coaches and supporters exploded in celebration for their first state playoffs victory in perhaps five decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is actually school history,\u201d Jarmon said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to know that we won over all the adversity at the beginning of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great accomplishment for all our team, and all of Dove Creek,\u201d said Gardner.<\/p>\n

Owen finished with a game-high 20 points for the Bruins (16-6 overall) in defeat, and Sandhu had 13. Junior Davin Hunter booked six, 4 of 8 from the foul line. Owen was 3 of 7 and Sandhu 4 of 7 as Belleview went a crippling 12 of 24, while the Bulldogs were 10 of 17.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could have done better, but we got enough,\u201d deadpanned Aaron Hankins.<\/p>\n

Kade Hankins paced Dove Creek (13-10 overall) with his 19 points, 10 during the fourth quarter. Jarmon netted a vital 14, and Williams also reached double figures with 10. Gardner and senior Blane Johnson each finished with two points.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to go to state in basketball,\u201d said Kade Hankins. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredible ride, man, a dream come true!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a team effort, and I\u2019m very proud of these guys,\u201d Aaron Hankins said. \u201cI felt like I was out there playing the game with them there at the end! And it\u2019s almost like we tried everything we could in the last 20 seconds to give it away, but we persevered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been the underdogs all year, and everybody stepped up today. It\u2019s a huge deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dove Creek\u2019s first foe in the Great Eight will be Sierra Grande on Thursday, March 10, at 5:30 p.m. in Bank of Colorado Arena at Butler-Hancock Athletic Center at the University of Northern Colorado. The Blanca-based Panthers improved to 23-0 by handling Kim\/Branson 54-35 in Region III, Bracket 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greeley-bound Bulldogs score 47-45 shocker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[39,28,29,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-41827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41827","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=41827"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85113,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41827\/revisions\/85113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41827"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=41827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}