Dogies split conference opener

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Editor
 
It was a case of Jekyl and Hyde for the Dogies last weekend as they opened up quadrant play. On Friday, they hosted the Thermopolis Bobcats and came away with an exciting 58-55 win in overtime, then traveled to Buffalo and limped away suffering a 68-37 loss. 
Head coach Allen Von Eye knew that the Bobcats would be solid, coming in with a 6-4 record and averaging nearly 20 points more per game than his own crew. In addition, their roster is heavy with veteran varsity players who have the battle scars to prove they have earned some respect. 
“We knew we’d see full court pressure that is different from what we run,” Von Eye began. “They are more pressure orientated with four guys in the back court, but I wasn’t worried at all with our press offense. We didn’t have any issues breaking their press, but we struggled to score early.”
Both teams got off to a slow start with each trying to figure each other out, but once the Dogies got going, they jumped out to a lead and were tearing the Bobcats’ pressure defense apart while giving them fits with their own three-quarter court pressure in the first quarter.
The Dogies turned Thermopolis over nine times in the first eight minutes, many of those leading to fast break buckets, however the Bobcats were able to answer in turn so the first quarter ended with the Dogies leading by a slim 8-7 margin.
In the second quarter, the Dogies pulled out to a 9-point lead but then Thermop made some adjustments to pull back to within 4 by the time the teams headed into the locker room. 
“We stressed that we could not come out flat in the third quarter like we’ve been doing, and we didn’t technically come out that way,” Von Eye said. “But then we went into a lull a couple of minutes in. Thankfully, it wasn’t too bad, and we battled back and dug ourselves back out of it.”
The Bobcats used that lull to catch fire and pull to a 7-point lead before the Dogies were able to ramp things back up to trail only by 4 at the end of quarter three.
“Players make plays, and that is exactly what they did,” Von Eye said. “Coaching is overrated. It comes down to players executing on the floor — and the guys really did a great job of that.”
The teams were like heavyweight champions going blow for blow throughout the fourth quarter. The Dogies had a chance in the final seconds to secure the win, but time ticked away before they could break the 49-49 tie on the scoreboard, thereby going into their first overtime situation of the season. In a contest that saw six ties and nine lead changes, it is not a surprise for it to take extra time to decide a victor.
“That’s a little scary,” admitted Von Eye. “Especially when you’re sitting with some foul trouble. We still needed to play aggressively, but we also had to play smart.”
The Bobcats came out and scored 2 right off the bat to go up 4, which in OT can be worrisome. The Dogies responded, however, and did what they needed to do to reduce the deficit. 
“We hit some big shots down the stretch and we knocked down some free-throws,” Von Eye said. “Once we got the lead, we felt pretty comfortable. We have two really good free-throw shooters in Slade and Aidan, so I felt confident going to the line down the stretch.”
Both Chick and Roberson got to the line and maintained the lead necessary to take the 58-55 win which gave Newcastle a 1-0 record in quadrant play.
The Dogies beat the Bobcats on the boards pulling down 8 more on the night, and Chick was Mr. Clean snagging 14 of those, many on the defensive end of the court.
“Aidan has really rebounded well for the last five games or so,” Von Eye acknowledged. “He just has great timing and understands positioning, and has been attacking the defensive glass.”
“Hayden [Overman] did some really great things for us offensively that night, and Aidan hit a couple of key shots as well to get us back in it,” he continued.
Overman would end the night leading his team with 22 points. Chick was next with his double double of 17 points and 14 rebounds. Roberson added 9 points including going 5-6 from the charity stripe, Hogan Tystad added 8 and Tate Engle rounded out the scoring with 2 points of his own. 
Turnovers were the dark
side of the night, and haunted the Dogies again on Saturday in Buffalo. 
The Bison got pummeled by Douglas in the second half of their game on Friday night, so they were motivated to pick up a quadrant win against
the Dogies.
“We knew we’d get their best, we always do up there,” Von Eye said. “They were the most physical and athletic team we have seen all year, and their defense is in-your-face and aggressive. We had three guys that were open all the time, but we couldn’t see it because of the pressure they bring in the full court and the half court.” 
The Bison were up 11-4 at the end of the first quarter, and extended their lead even further in the second before the Dogies settled in and started to climb their way out of the hole they had dug for themselves to go into the half down 14.
“Actually, we felt pretty good that we had cut it to 14, because even the guys said they had felt like we were just handing them the ball and letting them shoot layups,” Von Eye said. “We had 22 turnovers in the first half which is five more than our season average, so we knew that we had to clean that part of our game up if we wanted to have a chance.”
Unfortunately, the third quarter blues inflicted the team once again, and Buffalo extended their lead back up 25 points. The Dogies tried to battle back, but fatigue started to set in, so the Bison were able to pull to that 31-point lead to end the contest.
Chick led the Dogies in scoring with 11 points, Engle was next with 8 while Roberson and Overman each put in 6 points. Tystad added 4 points to the team’s total and Quint Perino chipped in 2 points of his own to round out the scoring. 
The Bison team the Dogies lost to got drilled by the Bearcat team the Dogies will play this Friday in Douglas. 
“Both teams are in our quad, so we have only a couple of options,” Von Eye determined. “We can either feel sorry for ourselves or we can do our best to fix it. I believe the latter is what we will do to get ourselves ready for a very good Douglas team.”
The Dogies will host the Wheatland Bulldogs in a rematch on Saturday at the Dogie Dome.
“We are chomping at the bit for another shot at the Bulldogs,” Von Eye said. “We did not put our best foot forward down there a couple of weeks ago, so we are ready to take them on again to see what we can do.” 
Tip-off on Friday is scheduled at 7 p.m. and the home game on Saturday is set for 3 p.m. Saturday is also Agriculture Appreciation night in the Dome.