Dogie men struggle with junk defense

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
Head coach Allen Von Eye knew it was coming, and it came in full force last Friday. 
Dylon Tidyman, who was leading the state with over 23 points per game going into last weekend, has really been having his way with teams so far this season and scoring as if by will. However, Von Eye knew the time was coming where teams would start throwing junk defenses at his squad and face guarding the senior to try to slow him down.
“We’ve been preparing for this since the beginning of the year, but it’s hard to get a real look at it in practice, because our practice squad isn’t another team’s starting five,” he admitted. “We absolutely knew we’d see it from Thermopolis, though because they did it to us last year, and they did it again on Friday.”
The Bobcats threw a box-and-one “junk” defense at the Dogies when they came to the Dome on Friday, and were effective in holding Tidyman to just four points on the night, two of which came from the charity stripe. After scoring 35 and 38 points in back-to-back games earlier in the season, his diminished ability to find the bottom of the net meant his teammates were left to get to the rack to score.
“They did a good job of taking Dylon out of the game for the most part,” Von Eye sighed. “And we didn’t help matters because even though we actually got to the hoop and created some pretty great opportunities, we just couldn’t make a dang lay up!”
The Dogies used the Bobcat’s defensive focus on Tidyman to get to the rack for easy buckets early in the contest, however once they got there, they struggled to finish. Despite being hamstrung offensively, Newcastle was able to play tough defense to thwart the Bobcats’ ability to score as well. As such, the two teams went into the half with the Dogies down only five points.   
“Unfortunately, when we came out in the third quarter, we came out soft and had a couple of turnovers to start so that five point lead spread out to 12 and that made it hard to make up,” Von Eye began. “We weren’t very physical with it, but we did have some kids step up.”
Zach Purviance, the Dogies’ second leading scorer, did a good job getting to the hoop off the bounce but, as Von Eye stated, whenever you have a team that takes a player like Tidyman out of the game, you have to have other guys take over. 
“Some of the guys looked for it and they wanted it in their hands a little more than they did the next night in Buffalo. They wanted to take the shot,” Von Eye declared. “But Thermop challenged every single shot, and the guys have to know that they are going to get blocked every now and then and just keep their eyes on the hoop instead of trying to avoid or prepare for the block.”
Unfortunately, the Dogies became hesitant and each time they’d begin to make a run at the Bobcats, they’d miss a layup or two. And then to compound the problem, one player from Thermopolis banked in three shots from beyond the arc which Von Eye admitted took the wind out of his team’s sails.
The five point lead that Thermopolis held at the half stretched to 12 by the time the fourth quarter came to a close, so the Dogies dropped their Northeast quadrant opener 32-44. 
Seven Dogies got into the scoring column for the team with Purviance leading all with 12 points. Aidan Chick followed him with five, Tidyman and Bradyn Frye each had four, Slade Roberson added three and Peyton Tystad and Tate Engle pitched in two apiece.
On Saturday, the Dogies traveled to Buffalo for their second quadrant game of the weekend, and like Thermopolis, the Bison also came out face-guarding Tidyman. Unfortunately, the Dogies continued to struggle offensively, and lost this contest 31-67.
“The score of the game was not indicative of what these two teams really are,” Von Eye frowned. “I felt we had a lot of advantageous matchups against Buffalo, and though they have a lot of really good athletes on the team, but they aren’t necessarily great basketball players. They aren’t the Buffalo we’ve seen in the last several years.”
The Dogies started off the contest making a couple of buckets early, but Buffalo also hit a couple of quick threes. Unfortunately, once the Bison hit a double-digit lead, it became very difficult for the Dogies to climb back out of the hole.
“Again, we had a hard time finishing on our opportunities,  and then we’d go through streaks where we didn’t get any opportunities,” stated Von Eye. “They also annihilated us on the glass and out-rebounded us 46 to 16. They got 22 offensive rebounds, and you just can’t have that and expect to win. They also were very strong on the defensive glass, so when we are only getting one shot and they are getting two or three, bad things are going to happen.”
A bright spot from the weekend is that Von Eye insisted that the Dogies’ defense was pretty solid both nights, but if the team can’t score, they aren’t going to get the win.
“We lost two tough games last weekend, but it’s really about the process and learning and building toward regionals,” Von Eye nodded. “It was the first time we’ve seen face-guarding and junk defense so it was a good learning experience for both Dylon and the other four players on the court. Dylon tried
his best to do what he needs to do, but it’s more about patience and letting the opportunities come to him rather than forcing something when it’s not there.”
Purviance once again led the scoring with 13 points, Tidyman had eight, Frye added six and Roberson and Tystad each had two. 
The Dogies have two more big games this weekend beginning with another quadrant game against Douglas there on Friday. The team then goes to Wheatland on Saturday so they have back-to-back road games, the first being the quadrant matchup against the Bearcats.\