Slow start does in Dogie men

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
In back-to-back road games, the Newcastle Dogies struggled out of the gate to put points on the board. In Douglas on Friday, the team could only muster seven points in the first eight minutes of play, but in Wheatland on Saturday they finished the first frame with only one.
Head coach Allen Von Eye admitted that his squad’s inability to get on the board early is a bit worrisome at this point in the season.
“We really should be better at understanding that every shot is not the same, and should be better at knowing what is a good shot and what is not,” he admitted. “Patience is a little bit more of a virtue right now, and we need to be getting good shot opportunities rather than rushing up quick shots.”
The Dogies struggled to buy buckets as the contest got underway against the Bearcats, and though their defensive effort was solid, Douglas got off to a six-zero start while Newcastle went several possessions without getting good looks at the basket.
“Our defense limited some of the things they like to do and we did a really good job on their pick and roll. We also did a good job on their shooters, though we struggled a little to contain them off the bounce,” Von Eye explained. “That gave them opportunities down low, and though we did a pretty good job of sliding over to help for the most part, we let them get too deep to where that was a bit difficult on us and we didn’t rebound overly well.”
The Dogies were only out-scored one in the second quarter, but still went into the locker room in a six point deficit. The mid-game break allowed the team to focus on their offensive game and they out-scored the Bearcats 14-13 in the third quarter.
“We were able to tie things up in the third because we got some offensive stuff going after the half,” Von Eye began. “That’s a positive for us, because we have struggled in the third quarter this year. But, after we worked so hard to get it tied, we let them go on a run. We gave them an and-one and it turned into a five point run to end the third.”
Unfortunately, the Dogies missed a couple of buckets early in the fourth and gave up a couple so the five point lead Douglas held at the start of the quarter turned into a double digit lead which was difficult to overcome late in the contest. As such, the Bearcats were able to come away with the 48-36 win.
“We were in a scramble mode at that point. They got a lot of free throw opportunities and they did well from the line,” Von Eye nodded. “ It’s even harder because we were on the road, and though we see-sawed back and forth, it was just too late.”
After two games last weekend where the Dogies’ leading scorer Dylon Tidyman was held to single digit points due to face-guarding and junk defense on the part of their opponents, he got a bit of a reprieve from the intense defensive pressure so once again was the team’s leading scorer with 13 points on the night. 
Slade Roberson dropped in eight points, Zach Purviance added five, Bradyn Frye and Tate Engle each had four, and Peyton Tystad rounded out the Dogies’ scoring with one point.
After the disappointing loss, the Dogies had to pull it together as they headed to Wheatland on Saturday to take on one of the best teams in the state on their home court. The Bulldogs returned all of their varsity players from last season and headed into the game with an 11-2 record. 
“They are as good of a Wheatland team that I’ve seen. They have four offensive threats that are athletic, can shoot and they’re long so we came in with the understanding that we needed to play our game,” Von Eye stated. “For the first time all season, I really didn’t think we could match up man-to-man with them for the duration of the ball game.”
The combination of athleticism and the system they play prompted Von Eye to have his team throw a zone on them through most of the ball game. According to the coach, his squad played great defense against them, and he concluded that they may have overlooked the Dogies a little bit. 
“They were a little lethargic throughout and we hung in there,” he claimed. “They pulled ahead 10 in the first quarter that ended 11-1, but after that we really hung in there.”
Unfortunately, the Dogies once again started slow and struggled to find the bottom of the net in the first eight minutes of play. However, defensively their game was on point so held Wheatland to only 11 points, three of which came late in the quarter from the perimeter.
“We couldn’t buy buckets and our shot selection wasn’t the best, so we shot ourselves out of situations,” Von Eye admitted. “However, we had them a little flustered with our zone and from then on they only out-scored us four for the rest of the ball game.”
Unfortunately, the hole that was dug early was too deep for Newcastle, so they dropped their second game of the weekend 40-54.
Like Douglas, Wheatland opted not to throw junk defense against Tidyman, however the senior struggled to get his offensive game going in the first half. He warmed up in the last 16 minutes of play however, to end the night with 20 points. Frye and Engle had seven points each, while Tystad and Roberson each added three. 
“They were able to get some opportunities because we were taking risks late, but I thought our defense was awesome,” Von Eye exclaimed. “Dylon came alive in the second half, Tate was aggressive the whole game, and Bradyn did some nice things inside.”
This week, the Dogies once again lost the opportunity to see Rawlins before Regionals, as the contest which was postponed from January 11th due to weather, was cancelled on Tuesday also due to weather. 
The Dogies will get two games in this week as they travel to Torrington on Friday and then host 2A Big Horn on Saturday. 
“Torrington is playing well right now, and Big Horn is hit and miss so it will be interesting to see what happens,” Von Eye mused. “They will be very physical and it won’t be flashy, but it’ll be another big weekend as we build toward regionals.”