The Mancos Bluejays can now show off five landslide victories after their most recent match on Tuesday. They claimed a resounding 67-36 victory over Dolores at home. Given Mancos' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 116th, while the Bears are ranked 313th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mancos' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Spencer Eschallier led the charge by dropping a double-double on 20 points and 14 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Eschallier has scored all season. Andrew Jaime was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with eight rebounds and eight steals.
When it comes to explaining why Dolores lost, one person who can't be blamed is Mark Palate. Despite the final result, he scored 15 points along with three steals. That was a full 41.7% of Dolores' points, marking the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Mancos pushed their record up to 7-3 with that win, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Dolores, they are on a five-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-9.
Mancos has the luxury of staying home another game and will welcome the Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. on January 26th. Hopefully Dove Creek focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 18 on Tuesday. As for Dolores, they will head out on the road to square off against the Trojans at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Allowing an average of 53 points per game, Ouray has struggled on the defensive end, but that doesn't have to be the case in this matchup.
