Defense wins games

Anyone who has participated in sports knows the old adage that defense wins games. 
Obviously, you have to be able to put points on the board to make it happen as well, but it’s a fact that a great defense creates offensive opportunities.
Case in point: last weekend we watched the Lady Dogies dominate Big Horn and Rawlins on defense. If they weren’t stealing the ball and transitioning for a fast break, they were cutting off any offensive looks their opponents were trying to create in the half court, forcing them to take less than desirable shots, and then cleaning up the glass. 
On Friday, they gave up only two baskets to the Lady Rams in the entire contest, and a mere 6 points by the time the final buzzer rang. 
Admittedly, Big Horn is a very young team, however they scored 28 points against a ranked Sundance team last Tuesday and turned around to defeat Greybull 38-32 on Saturday. Greybull had actually gotten the better of the Lady Rams earlier in the season, so obviously Big Horn is capable of scoring. 
In their game against Rawlins on Saturday, the relentless defensive pressure by the Lady Dogies once again created a scoring abyss for the Lady Outlaws. 
Rawlins was able to score twice as many points as Big Horn had, but they were only able to muster up three baskets by the end of the contest.
The Lady Outlaws are also struggling a little this season, but they managed to score 43 points against Mt. View who defeated the top team in the west last week. 
The common denominator in both scenarios is that the Lady Dogies’ defense was just too much for either team. 
Newcastle’s defense created offensive opportunities which resulted in two big wins.
The Newcastle men also proved that defense wins games on Friday night against the Rams of Big Horn. 
The Dogies found themselves down by 11 with just a little over four minutes to play in the contest, but once they ramped up their defensive pressure they created turnovers, which turned the game around for the Dogies in the blink of an eye. 
Not only did they make up the deficit, but they were able to take the 2-point win at the buzzer.
If they had sat back and let Big Horn have their way, there would not have been a “W” for Newcastle as time ticked off the clock.
What’s great about defense is that anyone can be good at it. Shooting takes some skill and a lot of practice whereas defense just requires grit and determination. 
Even if you struggle on offense, defense almost always wins games.