Dogie men end their season early

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Dogies have had a difficult season, but things were picking up as they headed into the 3A East Regional Tournament last Thursday. The team had clinched a couple of conference wins, one of which was in the quadrant, late in the season so were heading into post-season play with a burgeoning confidence.
Head coach Allen Von Eye felt good about the matchups his squad would have on their side of the bracket as Wheatland, Douglas and Torrington were all teams he believed his crew could play well against.
It was the Bulldogs of Wheatland that Newcastle would face off against in their first contest of the tournament on Thursday morning. Having played and lost to them just a few days prior, the Dogies were still acutely aware of what the team would bring to the court.
“Wheatland was just as we anticipated,” Von Eye nodded. “We figured we wouldn’t see much as far as change from them and I think we made the adjustments we needed to in order to give ourselves as much of a chance as possible.”
The Dogies came out with a fast start and played solid defense against the Bulldogs. They also were successful on the offensive end of the court getting some well executed shots to fall.
“We switched our defense around a bit, running about five different ones in the first half, and we did a pretty good job of keeping them on their toes,” explained Von Eye. “Offensively, we attacked the paint and we were able to get some inside-out looks when they closed us off from the hoop and so we were able to keep the game nice and tight.”
Indeed the score was close as the first two quarters came to a close. The Dogies headed into the locker room only down 18-21, and that three-point Bulldog lead appeared in the final moments of the second quarter. 
“We felt pretty good going into the half, but we stressed that the third quarter was going to be key,” Von Eye began. “We needed to maintain our solid defense and continue to do the things on offense that were proving successful.”
The Dogies’ defense didn’t let down at all in the third quarter as the team held Wheatland to only six points, however, the rims turned tight on the Dogies and they struggled to get their shots to fall.
“We got away from everything we had done in the first half where we had success, and this became a theme for the weekend,” Von Eye sighed. “We stopped attacking the paint, we became very perimeter oriented, and our passing became really poor forcing some bad passes which they were able to take advantage of to force a turnover.”
In the final quarter, the Dogies kept doing the same things and then a couple of those turnovers bit them hard. The Bulldogs were able to convert some of those to get layups and some runouts and then it became too much for the Dogies to overcome. 
Wheatland outscored Newcastle 20-10 in the fourth quarter and went on to take the game 47-31.
“We were very proud of how our kids prepped all week long and how they came out in the first half, but we just couldn’t sustain it in the second half,” Von Eye stated. “It was one of the better shooting performances we’ve had, but we just didn’t do well rebounding. We gave up a lot of defensive boards, and that is going to hurt you every time.”
Dylon Tidyman put up a double double, scoring 11 points and snagging 10 rebounds. Zach Purviance led his team in scoring with 12 points, Slade Roberson had four while Bradyn Frye and Tate Engle each added two of their own.
With the loss, the Dogies dropped into the loser-out game against Douglas on Friday morning. 
“We really felt that our matchup was advantageous for us,” Von Eye declared. “We just saw Douglas a week ago, and they were kind of reeling a little after their three-point loss to Buffalo the day before.”
The Bearcats got off to a fast start, while the Dogies struggled to get going early. However, the squad was bolstered by the Dogie fans and hit some big shots. A stifling defensive effort by Newcastle, combined with some offensive firepower allowed the squad to battle back into the game, outscoring Douglas 19-14 to go into the half tied at 25-25.
“Defensively, we played really well and offensively I thought that was the best we’ve looked so far because we finally bought into what we’ve been preaching for weeks,” Von Eye smiled. “We really attacked inside both off the bounce and off the pass. We wanted to attack gaps and we did that, so then we got kick-outs for some really good three point opportunities which we took advantage of and we looked good.”
Once again, Von Eye stressed that the Dogies needed to come out with the exact same offensive and defensive strategy in the second half, unfortunately the Dogies’ offensive game went much the same way it did against Wheatland the day before.
“We stopped attacking and started passing around the perimeter again, settling for three point attempts,” he frowned. “I guess I don’t know where the mixup was.”
Though their defense remained tough throughout the final two quarters of play, offensively the squad struggled so found themselves down 38-56 as time ticked off in the final quarter. 
“They limited our shots and got the lead which they extended, and it’s just too hard at this level to battle back once you put yourself in that position,” Von Eye nodded. “Both our first halves were really good, and we battled until the end, but when you dig a hole like that, it makes it tough.”
Tidyman led his team with 17 points and he was followed by Purviance with 11, Landon Engle with four, and Roberson and Frye each added three points. 
“It was, by no means, the ending that we wanted or even anticipated, but you can’t be anything other than proud of the kids because they battled their tails off,” Von Eye declared. “The compliments from coaches around the conference mean a lot more than anything else, because they understood how hard our kids played every single game.”
“This is where you take high school sports and apply it to life. It would be awesome to win and punch your ticket to state, to get titles and championships, but those things all end pretty quickly in the grand scheme of things,” he continued. “Whereas the lessons you learn from the season continue on and apply to other aspects of your life forever.”
With the loss, the Dogies’ season came to an early end, and the careers of seniors Dylon Tidyman, Peyton Tystad, Bradyn Frye and Cooper Deveraux also close out.
“We’re just going to have to move on from that and let these young kids pick up where they left off and grow into some of those roles,” Von Eye began. “You don’t replace a Dylon of course who was a four year varsity player who moved into fifth place of all time in scoring this weekend. He did some really good things to set a standard for the younger guys. The other three were great role guys for us and did some really good things this year and that is tough to replace as well.”
Tidyman moved ahead of Nick Pisciotti in scoring, ending his career with 1,126 points. He also finished as the fourth leading rebounder and first in steals. 
However, Von Eye was able to get a lot of his players on the floor and played as deep as he has in a long time. He utilized players situationally according to their abilities, and though he admits those players roles will be expanding next season, the varsity experience they gained this year will be valuable as the season gets underway next December.
“You just have to hope that others will step into the roles vacated by the seniors and bring their own little piece to the program”, Von Eye declared. “And they will. They were already pretty fiery afterward and wanted to get things kicked off and get going again in prep for next season.”