Coyotes head to divisionals

The Dodson Coyotes are headed to the Eastern C Divisional for the second straight year, this team as the 3C District's second seeded team.

The Coyotes defeated the Lustre Christian Lions 75-56 in the semifinals of the 3C Tourney last Thursday, February 20, in Glasgow, a win that qualified Dodson for the Eastern C this weekend in Glasgow. The Coyotes went on to lose the 3C Title game to Scobey. The score was 53-37.

The Coyotes will hope to make the State C Tournament in Missoula scheduled to start on Wednesday, March 11, but the Coyotes will have to earn one of only two spots.

"The key is to take care of the ball and take good shots and our seniors need to step up and bring us to state," Dodson Head Coach Frank Benson told the PCN.

The Dodson Coyotes are scheduled to face the Plentywood Wildcats who won the consolation finals in the 2C tournament last weekend in Sidney. The Wildcats defeated the Mon-Dak Thunder 70-66 in overtime.

The game against Plentywood is set to open the three day Eastern C Divisional on Wednesday, February 26, at 1:30, in Glasgow. Coach Benson knows that if they want to beat the Wildcats, his team will need to protect the perimeter.

"They have a kid named Tyson Flickinger, who can shoot the three," Coach Benson said. "Actually, they all can shoot the three. We need to box out against Plentywood and not give them second chance points and force them to turn the ball over."

In Dodson's 3C Championship loss to Scobey, the Coyotes were led by Juliun Benson who scored 14 points, five of which came in the fourth period. Corbin LoneBear had 11 points. Shaun Ball had ten points and Zarek Jones had two.

Scobey outscored Dodson in every quarter. 18-10 in the first, 10-7 in the second, 12-9 in the third, and 13-11. Dodson turned the ball over to Scobey 18 times, while Dodson only forced four turnovers.

In their semifinal victory over Lustre, Dodson's offense powered the Coyotes to a 37-22 lead at halftime. The Coyotes also outscored Lustre 38-34 in the second half.

Dodson was led by LoneBear who had 22 points. Jeremiah Benson scored 13 points, and Alex Werk had 12 points.

"We went out early on them and didn't look back," Coach Benson said. Jeramiah had 10 points in the fourth quarter to extend the lead.

Coach Benson also praised his team for their scoring in the paint.

"We had 36 points in the paint which was huge because 13 of them were second chance points," he said.