Basketball Recap: Nucla Drops Season-High Score on Dove Creek

Mustangs

Margin (Wins)

01/16/25 @ Ouray	59
12/20/24 @ Telluride	46
12/12/24 vs Vail Christian	45
12/14/24 @ Soroco	44
12/13/24 @ Caprock Academy	42

Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Nucla). They blew past the Dove Creek Bulldogs 70-49 on Saturday. The Mustangs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 matchups by 21 points or more this season.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Nucla to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kendra McCluer, who posted 17 points along with five boards and five steals. McCluer is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed four or more in the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Cadence Shaw, who scored eight points and four steals.

Nucla smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive rebounds in seven consecutive games.

Hadley Hatfield and Taylor Hampton certainly did their best on Saturday to avoid the loss. Hatfield almost dropped a double-double on 16 points and nine assists, while Hampton dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Nucla is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.2 points over those games. As for Dove Creek, their defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 12-5.

Coming up, Nucla will venture away from home to take on Ridgway at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are headed into the matchup with plenty of momentum (Ridgway has won three straight at home, while Nucla won four straight on the road), something that'll have to change. As for Dove Creek, they will welcome Telluride at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Dove Creek is facing Telluride at the right time seeing as Telluride is stuck on a four-game losing streak.