The Douglas Bulldogs skid continued last week with losses to Empire, Cienega and Bisbee.

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The three losses extended Douglas’ losing streak to five games.

The Bulldogs began the week losing Jan. 15 to Empire 57-54 in Vail.

Ignacio Valenzuela led Douglas in scoring with 18 points while Eduardo Ysea followed with 14.

The Bulldogs trailed by one at the end of the first quarter but then rallied to take a 24-20 lead at the half.

Douglas had a slim one point lead going into the final quarter where Empire outscored the Bulldogs 16-12 taking a three point win and the season sweep.

The Bulldogs lost to the Ravens by six the first game of the season in the DHS gym.

On Thurday Cienega High School from Vail was in town to face the Bulldogs.

Ysea’s three at the end of the first quarter gave Douglas an 11-8 lead.

Douglas led 13-10 when Cienega got on track scoring 13 straight points to erase the three point deficit and take a 23-13 lead.

The Bulldogs went in at halftime down 28-17.

The Bobcats extended their lead in the third scoring Douglas by three before blowing the game open in the fourth with a 26-12 surge for a 70-42 win.

Ysea scored 13 points this game to lead Douglas in scoring. Valenzuela followed with 12 and Daniel Valenzuela contributed six.

On Friday the Bulldogs hosted their rivals the Bisbee Pumas. Douglas had won the earlier game in Bisbee 65-61 behind Ysea’s game high 20 points.

Ysea was on the bench in street clothes Friday night for what Bulldog basketball coach Oscar Mariscal called “school related issues.”

The Bulldogs trailed for a majority of the game down 21-16 at the break and 33-28 heading into the final quarter.

Bisbee opened up the lead in the fourth taking a 45-30 lead with two minutes remaining.

Then it got interesting.

Following a pair by Adrian Pena, Diego Galindo hit back to back three’s pulling Douglas within seven with 60 seconds remaining.

Bisbee hit one of two free throws to go up eight and Oscar Hernandez then came down and drilled a three pulling Douglas within five.

Bisbee missed two free throws on its next trip to the free throw line and Pena came down court and drilled another three pulling the Dogs back to within two and 24.4 seconds remaining.

That would be as close as the Dogs would get as Bisbee came away with a 49-47 win.

Ignacio Valenzuela led Douglas in scoring with 14 points. Galindo and Luis Padilla each had six, Pena five and Daniel Valenzuela four.

Coach Mariscal said afterwards not having Ysea on the court Friday against Bisbee really hurt but he was proud of the effort the other players on the team gave in his absence.

“We’ve been riding him all season long and he’s been really stepping up for us,” the coach said. “It was a huge loss for us to have him sit out tonight.”

Coach Mariscal said the rough stretch his team is going through right now is not from the lack of effort.

“Our kids are competing; they’re playing hard and they’re fun to watch,” he said. “Every night they give us a chance to pull one out.”

The season is winding down for the Bulldogs who closed out the home portion of their season last night hosting Benson on Mom and Dads night for the five seniors on the team.

The Bulldogs will be at Tombstone on Friday; Buena on Jan 29; at Rio Rico Jan. 31 before ending the regular season Feb. 1 at Cienega.

Douglas’ junior varsity lost to Empire 68-44; Cienega 50-36 and to Bisbee on Friday. No other details were available.

Freshmen

The Bulldog frosh had a full slate of games last week beginning with an away game as they traveled to Tucson to face Empire.

Much like their first game against Empire, the Bulldogs dominated the entire game. Led in scoring by Alejandro Villalobos who had 21 points, the final would end up being 45-27 in favor of the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs returned home to face a very tall Cienega team on Thursday. Unable to rebound with the taller Cienega team the Bulldogs lost by a final of 68-40. They were led in scoring by Villalobos who finished with 24 points.

After losing to Cienega on Thursday the Bulldogs had a little time to think about it as they had to face rival Bisbee the very next day. In a very hard fought game by both teams Douglas led 21-17 at halftime. The second half would be very competitive as well but in the end the Bulldogs were able to pull away and win by a final of 55-48. Led in scoring once again by Villalobos who had 21, the Bulldogs had two other players finish in double figures; Jesus Cisneros who added 15 points and Joey Encinas who contributed 13. Encinas would also finish with a game high 14 rebounds.

Coach Abe Grijalva had this to say about the busy week, "Our goal this week was to win two out of the three games and improve our record from last year and we were able to do that so we are very pleased."

The Bulldogs, 5-4, do not play this week. They will finish their season next week with three away games at Rio Rico, at Buena and at Cienega.