DCHS boys once again will have a new head basketball coach

DCHS boys once again will have a new head basketball coach

December 6, 2001

By Jim Thomas
Journal Sports Editor

Dolores County High School, for the past decade, has had a revolving door for the boys varsity head coaching job. A coach will come in and stay for a couple or three seasons and then leave.

Ty Gray is the newest in a long line of coaches. He replaces Scott Crawford who resigned at the end of last school year. Gray was elevated to head position after serving the past two year’s as Crawford’s assistant. Gray, 25, is a 1995 graduate of Mancos High School. But Gray said he hopes to be around a long time to develop the program.

"I feel like we have solid team this year," Gray said. "We have a good group to work with and I think they will go far."

Leading the way is 6-foot-5 senior honorable mention All-State Keith Pierce. The post player can be dominating in the middle and could be definite force in the Class 2A San Juan Basin League. Pierce averages double digits in scoring and rebounding. He also can dribble and pass the ball well.

Supporting him are veterans Dallas Coker, Lyle Joe and Brandon Neely. The sixth-man right now seems to be Hoss Nidiffer. Jesse Rippee, a transfer student, will see plenty of playing time. Garrett Hancock, Chase Davis, and D.J. Ford all will see playing time for the DCHS varsity.

"Our offense will be pretty basic this first year. We will have a lot of movement once we set up. We will try to work the ball into our big man (Pierce). We want to shoot the ball a lot. We want to push the ball up and down the floor. A transition game (on the scoring end) is important to our scheme," he said.

Defensively, the Bulldogs will pressure the ball all the time.

"We will run a lot of full-court traps, 1-3-1 half-court trap, full man press, and 2-3 zone. We want our guys to stay fairly close to the ball at all times," he added.

Gray said Mancos, with three starters back from a team that went to State a year ago, is probably the team to beat in the league.

"I’m looking forward to playing against them," Gray, who played as a sophomore and as a senior for MHS and coach Gary Hill. "I will be a little nervous coaching against him."

He said Telluride will be improved. Nucla will only get better as the season goes on. He said he doesn’t know about Norwood. But he said he believes his team will be in the right place by the time District III Tournament rolls around at the end February.

The Bulldogs certainly opened the season at the right place. They won their annual Bulldog Classic Tournament by clobbering 3A school Bayfield 54-38 after beating Aztec, N.M., JVs 64-35 in the opener last weekend. He admitted he was a bit nervous coaching in his first game but soon got over it as his team played well.

Once again the Bulldogs will play most of their home games at either Montezuma-Cortez High School or Cortez Middle School gyms because old Bulldog Memorial Gym is condemned. A new school is being built and the Bulldogs will move into a new gymnasium next season.

DCHS hosts Class A powerhouse Ridgway at Cortez at noon, Saturday, Dec. 8. They compete in Farmington at the Piedra Vista Tournament Dec. 14-15. They visit Bayfield on Dec. 20, wrapping up the 2001 portion of the season.

Following the holidays, the Bulldogs return to action Jan. 10 by play Cortez JVs at Cortez Middle School. They play Farmington JVs at MCHS on Jan. 15. They host Ignacio at MCHS on Jan. 17. They open San Juan Basin League play at Mancos on Jan. 19 and host Dolores Jan. 25 (at MCHS). They travel to Nucla on Jan. 26. They play a non-conference game at Bayfield on Jan. 29.

The Bulldogs return to league play on Feb. 1 by visiting Norwood. They host Telluride (at MCHS) on Feb. 2. The play their final non-conference game at Farmington High JVs on Feb. 5. They host Mancos (at MCHS) on Feb. 9 and host Nucla (at Dolores) on Feb. 15. They visit Dolores Feb. 18 and host Norwood Feb. 22 before going to Telluride Feb. 23.

District III Tournament pigtail boys games are slated for Feb. 26. The District III Tournament is set for March 1-2 at MCHS. Regionals will be at Grand Junction High on March 9. The Class 2A State Basketball Tournament is slated March 14-16 at Pueblo.