Dogies show fans season potential

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter 
 
After an admittedly disappointing start to the season with a loss against Custer last weekend, head coach Allen Von Eye was very pleased to see his Dogie basketball squad reveal the potential they hold heading into post-Christmas play.
The annual Stateline Shootout commenced as the Dogies travelled to Sundance to take on the Bulldogs last Thursday.
After struggling offensively against the Wildcats, the Dogies appeared ready and able to rectify that situation, exploding in the first quarter against Sundance and scoring 24 points. They nearly doubled that to take a 41-22 lead into the locker room.
“We just played very well in the first half,” Von Eye began. “We did some good things in transition, our half-court offense was so much better, our patience and our cuts were there and our defense was pretty solid as well. But with a game where you jump out big like that to start, often kids start to think they can get away with things that they normally can’t in a game and it starts to get a little sloppy.”
Von Eye’s analysis was spot on as the Dogies’ second half of play was not nearly as efficient as their first. The Bulldogs came out in a 2-3 zone to start the second half, and sloppy defense on the part of Newcastle allowed Sundance to outscore the Dogies 13-10 in the third quarter.
“This is the first time we’ve seen a zone this season. We invite teams to zone us because the beauty of our offense is that it is the same regardless of whether they defend us man-to-man or throw a zone at us,” Von Eye began. “Our kids rep it a thousand times, but we just weren’t executing like we should have. We weren’t hitting the inside man, so we ended up passing it around the perimeter until we’d shoot a three and lose the ball. It wasn’t working for us, but it was a good learning opportunity for us.”
Though the team struggled in the third quarter, they rebounded in the fourth to hold on to take the decisive 58-39 win.
Cade Ostenson was dominant in the contest, leading his team with 24 points, five rebounds, five steals and two assists. Dylon Tidyman claimed his first double-double of the year with 20 points, 11 points, seven steals and two assists. Sawyer Roberson put in six points, Peyton Tystad and Zach Purviance each added three, and Gavin Roady rounded out the scoring with two points.
On Friday the Dogies got off to a fast start as per usual against the Lead Golddiggers in Belle Fourche. However, they hit a lull in the second quarter where, according to Von Eye, taking care of the ball and shot selection became a little bit suspect, which resulted in Lead taking an eight point lead into the locker room at the half.
“To start, we attacked the rack really well, our back-cuts were there, our movement was great and defense was okay as well,” Von Eye stated. “We forced them into some tough shots, which they somehow hit to keep them around in the first quarter. But we got complacent and went a long stretch without getting any shots up in the second quarter.”
A chat at half time appeared to get the Dogies back on track as they came out in the third quarter and began exerting their will on the 1-2-2 zone the Diggers threw at them on defense.
“We came out and started getting into the teeth of their zone and got easy buckets. Then the kickouts started happening, and we got shots on the perimeter,” Von Eye nodded. “It really started to sink in what we’d been preaching for a game and a half of where we need to go, and why we need to go there to exploit the weaknesses of a zone.”
The Dogies’ execution turned an eight point deficit into a nine point lead, which was what they needed given Lead turned up the heat offensively in the fourth quarter.
Despite the late-game run, the Dogies held on for their second consecutive win of the tournament, defeating the Diggers 65-61.
Tidyman led the team with his second consecutive double-double, scoring 21 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Ostenson poured in 19 points and had six rebounds, three assists, two steals and took two charges. Kyle Haslam and Isaiah Brooks each added six points, Dylan Talley and Tystad contributed four apiece, Roberson had three and Roady had two points.
Von Eye and his squad headed into their final contest of the weekend against the Belle Fourche Broncs fully aware that they faced a tough challenge. The squad outsized them across the board, and are a team that Von Eye describes as the best shooting team he’s ever seen.
“We really stressed the importance of playing gaps defense against this team. We had to contain the ball early and I thought it was one of the best defensive games we’ve had in a very long time,” Von Eye determined. “As far as execution, our kids were spot on, and rotations were as pretty as you could imagine. Help defense and gaps were there, and then when we would get out of rotation our scramble defense was spot on. It was just pretty.”
The first half went well for Newcastle on both ends of the court, and by all appearances were just too tough for the Broncs to guard as they went hard to the rack for lay-up after lay-up. The team attacked the rim so well there was no need for a perimeter game as they built their lead.
Belle was able to hang in the game, however, due to their ability to hit highly contested perimeter shots, so the Dogies went into the half with only a 30-23 point lead.
Though the team came out strong in the third quarter, things started going south when a couple of key players got into foul trouble and questionable officiating came into play.
In the battle that ensued in the final half of the game, the Dogies had come back from behind to tie it at 55-55 with a little over a minute remaining. The Broncs had possession and on their next trip were fouled by Newcastle. While the call on the shot was being made, Haslam went for a block and was ultimately called for a technical foul for continuing to play after the whistle was blown.
That call gave Belle two free throws for the blocking call, two free throws for the technical foul and possession of the basketball.
Though never one to put the outcome of a game on events that occur in the last minutes or seconds of a contest, Von Eye did admit that the scenario that played out presented real adversity for his team.
“With one and a half minutes left, they missed a contested three and got the offensive board. They went up again and we fouled, and got the most absolute bogus technical foul call I’ve ever seen,” he sighed. “They ended up with four free throws and possession that extended the lead to three. We got a good look on our last possession. We got the offensive board and there was a lot of contact with the put back, but we lost possession.”
When the final buzzer sounded, the Dogies found themselves on the losing end 55-58.
Tidyman was once again the team’s leading scorer with 23 points, and he was followed by Ostenson with 13. Haslam had a great game, adding 12 points, Talley had three and Brooks and Tystad rounded out the scoring with two points each.
Von Eye noted that despite how it ended, the weekend was a great learning opportunity for his squad to take into the Christmas break and prepare for the opening of conference play in January.
The Dogies are back at it in Torrington on Jan. 5 and will host Gering on the 6th.