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Dogie hoopsters suffer first quarter blues

By
Sonja Karp, NLJ Sports Editor

In this season of rebuilding, head coach Allen Von Eye’s squad has shown marked improvement from their first game, however, as last week’s contests proved, they are still struggling to come out strong right out of the gate. 
It was a challenging three-game week for the Dogies as they dropped their first contest against Belle Fourche at home on Tuesday 34-62, then lost 30-72 on the road to the number one ranked Douglas Bearcats on Thursday, and finally fell to the Blazers 44-78 in Torrington on Saturday.
“We got off to a slow start in each game, which has been our trend in the last few contests we’ve played,” admitted Von Eye. “I was really happy with our third quarter stats in each though, and really, with our stats for the final three quarters. But when we dig ourselves a big hole in the first few minutes of the game, it makes it really tough to climb out of.”
Belle Fourche came into the game on Tuesday with a deceptive record of 6-11. Apparently, like the Lady Broncs, the boys team has taken on some pretty talented opponents and according to Von Eye, have lost some very close ball games during the season.
“We knew they would be solid,” Von Eye nodded. “They are athletic and well-coached so we knew what we were in for.”
A slow start for the Dogies showed as the first quarter came to a close with Newcastle down 3-19 against the Broncs. From there, Von Eye’s crew settled in a bit but still went into the locker room with a 40-13 deficit at the half.
Newcastle scored another 10 points to Belle’s 16 in the third quarter and then outscored the Broncs 11-6 in the fourth, but it was too little too late so they dropped the contest.
“That first quarter really got us between not being able to finish at the rack and with the turnovers we had early,” Von Eye frowned. “We gave them opportunities to score when we turned the ball over early, and they took advantage of that, but we also did some good things as well.”
Zander White led his team with 12 points, Wyatt Cole and Teddy Troftgruben had eight points apiece, Quint Perino added four points while Will Beastrom chipped in two points.
After the loss on Tuesday, the Dogies had one practice before having to take on the number one seeded Douglas Bearcats on their floor on Thursday.
“They are the fastest team we’ve seen all year,” Von Eye exclaimed. “They push it up the floor and come at you hard. We were hesitant and scared on defense and we gave up way too many buckets early on.”
Again, the Dogies struggled in the first quarter of play fronting the Bearcats 21 points while being unable to get any points of their own. The Bearcats outscored the Dogies in the second and third quarters, but Newcastle matched them in points in the fourth where they scored 13 apiece. 
“The guys’ effort is not something I’ve ever questioned, but we did see a little jogging on Thursday,” Von Eye admitted. “So I challenged them to show that that is not who we are. Then, despite being down pretty far, in the last three quarters you saw us battle and try to get after things.”
The Dogies shot 40% for the game and had 45% efficiency in their shooting so it was one of the team’s better offensive games. However, they gave the Bearcats 23 extra shots in turnovers so it made it tough to be in a game against a team like Douglas.
Cole led his team with 12 points, Perino was close behind with 11, Pate Tavegie had three points, while Teddy Troftgruben and Beastrom each added two points to round out the scoring.
In their final game on Saturday, once again a slow start to the game landed the Dogies in a 20-point deficit by the time the first quarter came to a close.
“Torrington is a team who has been improving throughout the year. They are an up and coming team with some young kids who are playing well and will only get better,” Von Eye prefaced. “But, everything we wanted and talked about doing all week, we didn’t do at the beginning for the first five minutes or so.”
Despite battling the Blazers for the final three quarters, the Dogies were unable to dig themselves out of the hole so dropped their third contest of the week.
“We finally settled in and started moving the ball,” Von Eye nodded. “We got to the paint a lot and had some good looks, but we missed quite a few of those in the first half which didn’t help.”
Perino led his team with 12 points, White and Beastrom each had eight, Cole and Teddy Troftgruben scored six points apiece, while Tavegie and Thatcher Troftgruben chipped in two points each.
This week, the Dogies will face off against the two best teams in the East Conference at home as they host Douglas on Thursday and Buffalo on Saturday. 
“We’ll play Douglas three times in three weeks, so that is good for us heading into Regionals,” Von Eye nodded. “We’ll get an intimate knowledge of them and put ourselves in the best position possible for that first round of Regionals.”
Games begin at 4 pm on Thursday and 1 pm on Saturday.

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