Dogie men get first quadrant win

 
Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Dogies have been working hard at improving since the beginning of the season, and the process may be paying off as last Friday they picked up their first quadrant win of the season against Thermopolis on their home court. 
After losing to the Bobcats by 12 points in Newcastle a month ago, the young Dogie squad has racked up more experience and it showed as they jumped out early and lead Thermopolis at every quarter break to take the 48-41 win. 
“We knew exactly what we’d see from them. They won the tip and our first defensive stance was exactly what we needed it to be,” head coach Allen Von Eye nodded. “We knew we had to contain the bounce really well. From a team concept of defense, we are about as good as there is, especially against teams who like to do the dribble drive motion types of offense. We got them to force a not-so-great shot, and we all crashed the boards and it was just a great possession.”
In addition to being very solid defensively, the Dogies were also effective on the offensive end of the court as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead and finished the first quarter only allowing the Bobcats two points.
“We were patient and moved the ball well on offense,” Von Eye explained. “But we knew that wasn’t the game, by any means. They came out in the second quarter and went on a run, like we knew they would. They got three buckets in a row off of turnovers, but I was happy with how the guys didn’t panic, and they just relaxed and kept themselves in the game.”
The Dogies took a 21-18 lead into the locker room, and though Thermopolis outscored them in the third quarter, they held onto a one point lead going into the final eight minutes of the contest.
“They went man on us most of the second half which was good for us. We got up about eight and then they went on a mini run at the end of the third quarter to pull within one,” Von Eye began. “We were up four, holding for the last shot, and then we forced a three with eight seconds left. The shot was blocked, and they pushed it up the court, kicked it out and got a three. That was a real momentum creating moment.”
The Dogies didn’t let the Bobcats take advantage of the quarter ending momentum by playing solid defense for the duration of the ball game. Though Dylon Tidyman picked up his fourth foul just seconds into the fourth quarter, the players on the court built up a four point cushion and battled hard to hold the lead.
“The guys executed really well, and I thought we played phenomenal defense, forcing a lot of ball reversals,” Von Eye nodded. “They wanted to score quickly, but we forced them to move the ball for 30-40 seconds each time and then to take a shot that may not have been the best. Then we were aggressive on the boards and got the rebounds so we held them to just one shot.”
The Dogies ended the night with 31 of their 36 rebounds coming from the defensive glass. In addition, Newcastle hit vital free throws down the stretch to hold onto the lead.
Unfortunately, when Tidyman went back into the fourth quarter with about four minutes remaining, he suffered an injury to his ankle. Coaches taped him up and he got back out on the court, but Von Eye pulled him to avoid any more injury.
“We decided that it wasn’t worth it to have him out there so we pulled him, but our young kids did a nice job,” Von Eye added. “Aidan [Chick] hit a couple of big free throws down the stretch,and did a nice job of freeing himself up to get the ball which is hard in those types of situations. Zach [Purviance] hit some free throws even though he was feeling pretty sick. He pushed through and did an awesome job.”
Purviance led his team with 15 points. He was followed by Tidyman who put up a double double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Bradyn Frye added seven points, Peyton Tystad and Chick each contributed four points each, Tate Engle had three and Landon Engle and Slade Roberson each added two points.
Tidyman’s injury had him sidelined for Saturday’s home rematch against Buffalo. The Bison got the better of Newcastle in January, defeating them 67-31 in Buffalo. 
“It was tough to lose Dylon especially because we didn’t know the extent of what this was going to look like,” Von Eye sighed. “We knew we wouldn’t have him for our Saturday game, obviously, and hindsight being 20/20, it was maybe a good thing to let those young guys get a chance to see what you have to do against a team like Buffalo.”
Buffalo is long and big and is athletic and talented as a team with players who have played together for a long time and it shows. 
“We started a little rough, but once we got settled in, I thought the kids did a pretty nice job against their pressure,” Von Eye asserted. “We struggled defensively though, and seemed to be a step or two behind all night.”
Turnovers and rebounding were the game elements that sealed the Dogies’ fate in their 27-71 loss. The Dogies committed 27 turnovers to Buffalo’s eight, and were outrebounded 34-15 with 17 of the Bison’s boards coming off their offensive end for putback points.
“We really hate to lose that game like that, but the chips were stacked against us,” Von Eye admitted. “However, it was a good opportunity for some other guys to get some really meaningful minutes with a lot of stress on their plates.”
Though there weren’t many points scored, the team distributed it through several players. Purviance once again led the team with seven, while Tystad and Landon Engle added six each. Frye and Chick each had three points, and Roberson rounded out the scoring with two. 
This last weekend of regular season play is a big one for the Dogies. The Friday game against Douglas, which is senior night, is huge with a lot of opportunity for the squad to firm up the three seed in the Northwest quadrant. Currently, Newcastle is tied through the first two breakers with Thermopolis for the third seed, so getting a win against Douglas opens the door to take it depending on how Thermopolis does against Douglas this weekend.
Then on Saturday, the Wheatland Bulldogs will be in town for another rematch. 
“It’s nice to have these last four weeks in the gym where you’re going to be playing Regionals,” Von Eye began. “Familiarity is important, so it’s nice that we get to play our last two at home. These are two beatable teams, so it should be a good weekend for us. They are good, but I think we’re starting to turn a corner and we’re seeing some nice things out of our squad.”