Dolores boys basketball starts a new chapter

Dolores boys basketball starts a new chapter

Dec. 8, 2001

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

The Cortez connection of starters Waylon Bennett and Kevin Fane and reserve Devin Perkins are key players for the Dolores High School boys basketball team under the direction of first-year head coach Scott Story.

Story replaces two-year coach Todd Ware. Story, a lawyer first by trade and now a coach and teacher, took over the head position this summer after spending the past several seasons as an assistant.

Bennett and Fane are one of seven seniors on the team this year. Bennett is a 5-foot-11 point guard while Fane is a 5-10 off-guard. Perkins is a 6-0 junior swingman who will see plenty of playing time.

Joining Bennett and Fane starting are seniors 5-11 Cullen Zion at a small forward, 6-1 Aeson Reed at a strong forward, and 6-2 Brady Blackmer at the no. 5 position.

The Bears are bolstered by 6-1 junior Tyler Gilstrap, 6-0 junior Keenan Lovett, 5-11 senior Garrett Nielson, 5-9 senior Chris Leonard, 6-3 junior Will Moffatt, 5-11 junior Chad Hanson, and 6-3 sophomore Wayne Willden.

"This is not a very big team (as high school boys teams go), but we are very athletic," Story reported. "But we are a very athletic team and will have to make up for lack of height with our athleticism. All our starting five are coming off a good football season. And a couple more on our team also played football."

Story plans on pushing the ball up and down the floor on offense. To do that, he will try to keep fresh players on the floor at all times.

"We can do that because we are deep. We can play eight or nine players without missing a step. We have very good team speed and that’s where our athleticism comes in," he added.

Story hopes his team, while on offense, doesn’t have to set up very often. But when that happens, the Bears will use a motion-based offense.

"We want to take advantage of our good shooters. We have five or six who can shoot the threes. Although we did not shoot well in our opener (20 percent in a lopsided loss against Class 4A no. 8 ranked Ignacio), we should have a very good shooting team. We won’t live or die by the three but we will shoot them consistently through the game," he said.

Lovett and Perkins can hit the threes as well as Zion, Bennett, and Fane.

Defensively, the Bears will apply pressure at all times and try to force turnovers. That’s where the transition games comes in to play and reason for fresh faces.

"I’m trying to make it better than a year ago. I hope we can take teams out of their gameplan and put them out of tempo. We will play a lot of man and zone. We will use full and half-court traps. We will use both man and zone half-court traps," he added.

Dolores, 0-1, visits Aztec, N.M., at about 6 p.m. today, Dec. 8. They played at Bayfield Friday night, Dec. 7. They host Durango JVs this Tuesday, Dec. 11. The Bears go to Shiprock on Dec. 18 and play at Bayfield again on Dec. 21, according to the schedule.

They do not play again until Jan. 11 when they host Bayfield. They visit Durango JVs on Jan. 12.

Story looks for DHS to be right in the mix of things when the league season rolls around. He thinks Mancos and Dolores County will be tough. But he also thinks that Nucla will come around. The big unknown is Telluride.

Dolores opens Class 2A San Juan Basin League play at Norwood Jan. 19. They play a non-conference game at home against MCHS JVs Jan. 22. They resume league action at Dolores County (at MCHS) Jan. 25. They host Telluride Jan. 26 and host Nucla Feb. 1. A trip to Mancos is on tap Feb. 2 and a visit to Norwood Feb. 9. The play their final non-conference game at home against San Juan High Sophs Feb. 12.

DHS plays at Telluride Feb. 15 and hosts DCHS Feb. 16. They play at Nucla Feb. 22 and host Mancos Feb. 23.

The District III Pigtail boys game is set Feb. 26. The District III Basketball Tournament is slated March 1-2 at MCHS. Regionals will be March 9 in Grand Junction and the State AA Basketball Tournament is slated for March 14-16 at Pueblo.