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Nov. 25, 2000 BY JIM THOMAS "Reloaded and Ready," is the slogan for the 2000-01 edition of Dolores High School varsity girls basketball. Not only are the girls reloaded but the coach is reloaded as well. Rob Mellott takes over for longtime coach Greg Buffington, who announced his resignation last spring. Under Buffington’s guidance, the Bears won San Juan Basin League titles in 1993, ‘94, ‘, ‘99, and ‘00. They took District III titles in 1994-95, and ‘00. They were District III runnersup in 1993, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99. They competed in West Regionals in 1993-2000. They placed third at the Class 2A State Tournament in 1994, ‘95, and last spring. They were fourth in 1999. But now it’s Mellott’s turn to carry on the tradition. "We are reloaded and ready and that’s the way we feel about it," he remarked. "I’m looking forward to the challenge of taking over." Actually, he led the team throughout the summer. The girls attended two summer camps and played in a tournament. They competed in about 18 games. Three returnees off last year’s team are back including senior wing Amber Simmons, junior point guard Jennifer Trevillian, and sophomore post Ashley Reed. Joining them this year include freshman post-guard-wing McKenzie Reed; sophomores wing-post Jennifer Cross, wing Joni Everett, point-wing Tracy Everett, and point Sarah Nielson; juniors post Amanda Cross, and post-wing Ashley Smith; and seniors post Jessica Gladem and post Krysten Fitzgerald. Assisting him is Lenea McCluhan. The team managers are LaRissa Gustafson, and Megan Thompson. "Offensively, we aren’t going to do many things differently than what Greg did," he said. "We will still run the ball and basically play the same type of game. We’ve had the kids in the program so they have been playing that type of game. We may change the offense a little bit." Mellott has some decent shooters. Trevillian, the Everett twins, and Jennifer Cross can hit the threes. On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears will apply full- and half-court traps, full- and half-court press, and various zones. The team is not overally tall. He does have three girls who are about 6-feet with several at 5-feet-8 and then it drops off. He said the team potentially will be good rebounders but a lot of that depends on how well they box out their opponents. Mellott says his team’s speed, attitude, and desire are a tremendous asset. "The kids have a lot of what’s up here (points to his head). They seem to have good court sense," he noted. How does the San Juan Basin League look to Mellott? "We haven’t really thought about it. I really don’t know. I know Mancos lost a lot like we did but they have some good ones back. I don’t know about Dolores County and Norwood. Nucla should be good. Telluride should be very good. I expect the league to be tough," he added. The Bears open the 2000 portion of the schedule at the Monticello, Utah, Tournament Dec. 1-2. It says it’s a tournament but it really isn’t as Dolores plays Green River, Utah, the first night and Monticello the second. Mancos also is in the tourney but the two rivals won’t play each other until later in the year. They host Bayfield on Dec. 8 and host San Juan High (Blanding, Utah) on Dec. 12. They host Shiprock JVs on Dec. 18 and visit Bayfield on Dec. 21. The 2001 portion opens Jan. 9 when they visit Ignacio. They open league play on Jan. 13 at home against Norwood and then host non-conference foe Ignacio on Jan. 16. It’s back to league play on Jan. 19 at Telluride and then home to Dolores County. They take another break from league to play at Montezuma-Cortez JVs Jan. 23. They visit Nucla Jan. 26 and host Mancos Jan. 27. They visit Norwood Feb. 3, and play Dove Creek at MCHS on Feb. 9. They host Telluride Feb. 10 and Nucla Feb. 16. The regular season ends with a game with Nucla Feb. 16 and a trip to Mancos Feb. 17. The District Tournament is set for Cortez Feb. 23-24. Regionals is slated for the Grand Junction area on March 3. State is set for March 8-10 in Pueblo. |
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