Coyotes fall at home to Pine Bluffs

POTTER – With a talented sophomore center getting much of the attention for the Pine Bluffs High boys' basketball squad, the Potter-Dix Coyotes found out the Hornets are more than a team with just one stinger.

Though they managed to stay toe to toe with the Hornets throughout several portions of the game, a dominating second quarter doomed the Coyotes chances in a 73-51 loss in a non-district contest at Potter on Tuesday night.

The Hornets improved to 11-1, while the Coyotes slipped to 5-10.

Trace Sharman led the Coyotes scoring attack with 13 points while Cole Christensen added 12 and Cameron Purcell chipped in 10.

While Hunter Thompson, the Hornets' 6-foot, 9-inch center, looks as good posting up as he does lining up a 3-pointer, four Pine Bluffs players scored in double digits. Thompson, who missed time in the game after rolling an ankle in the first half, led all scorers with 17 points. Kyle Jeffres (14), Preston Thurin (11) and Haize Fornstrom (10) were the other Hornets in double figures.

"We saw some video of (Thompson) with him dunking and shooting, and he looked pretty impressive," said Purcell. "But we found out tonight that we can play with anybody. For us it's just a matter of playing an entire game without letting bad stretches beat us."

Potter-Dix played one of its best stretches over the first eight minutes, before playing its worst.

Though Jeffers opened the game with four straight points for the Hornets on the way to a 7-0 lead, the Coyotes were quick to fight back. Cole Christensen was the key offensive ingredient to a 9-2 run to tie the game. The equalizer came from Purcell as he shook the twine from past the arc.

Later a bang-bang pass play from Purcell to Sam Bogert gave the Coyotes their first lead of the game at 11-10. Sharman kept the Coyotes ahead (15-14) at the first buzzer with a layup. But for the following eight minutes, the home crowd found little to cheer about.

"In the second quarter, we weren't closing out quickly enough and they took advantage," Sharman said. "Lately, too, it seems like our shots from close to the basket aren't falling at all. But these are things we can clean up. We just have to play with more consistency and maybe we can make a run at a state berth."

The one-point advantage quickly disappeared with the Hornets opening up on a 9-0 run. On two occasions the Coyotes fell behind by 18 points with the second occurrence being at the halftime buzzer (38-20). Sharman's running jumper was the only field goal the Coyotes could muster in a five-point quarter.

Thompson showed his shooting touch with a swish from downtown early in the second half with Trent Werner quick to follow. At one point in the third, the Coyotes fell behind by 29 points but a 9-0 Coyotes' run helped stave off disaster. Purcell finished off the burst with five straight points. Edward Barnes deuce in the final seconds left Potter down by 15 after 24 minutes at 54-39.

With two from Jake Johnson and four more by Sharman, the Coyotes narrowed the gap to 11 points (58-47) after trailing by 29 less than eight minutes earlier. Eleven straight by the Hornets, however, sealed the Coyotes' fate.

"We just have to cut down on the errors and play a solid game from beginning to end," said Coyotes' head coach Chad Miller. "We knew they had good outside shooters and of course they had a size advantage on us. But we showed we can play with anybody if we could just do it for four quarters."

The Coyotes also dropped a game at unbeaten Minatare, 64-38, on Saturday. The Indians (14-0) led 26-25 heading into the second half when they outscored the Coyotes (5-11) 23-2 in the third quarter.

Potter-Dix is back in action Saturday with a game at Garden County.