Dodson opens season with overtime victory over HLP in Coyote Den

The Dodson Coyotes welcomed their home fans to an entertaining home opener last Friday, December 3 in the Coyote den as they defeated the Hay-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds 63-60 in overtime.

For first-year Dodson Head Coach Ro Wiggins, the Coyote Den proved to provide quite the homecourt advantage.

"The atmosphere was electric," Coach Wiggins told the PCN. "Many locals told me that was the most packed they'd ever seen the gym. Both teams had the full backing of their communities and left it all on the floor."

Coach Wiggins was asked what the key to their win was that night.

"Trust was the key to our victory," he said. "Trusting our training, trusting in one another and in themselves."

The Coyotes will have a couple of weeks to prepare for their next game in Dodson against the North Country Mavericks on Friday, December 17. On Saturday, December 18, they will travel to Scobey to face the Spartans who have been the top team in the 3C district for years.

"I don't know much about either other than past accolades, but we will focus on controlling what we can control and be definitive in focusing on the details," Coach Wiggins said.

In their win, the Coyotes were led in scoring by Alex Werk, who had 19 points, four of which came in overtime. Werk knocked down three treys and went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.

Kadine Racine had 13 points. Cash KillEagle had eight points. Sebastian Best and Michael Jaynes each had seven points. Treyten Stifarm had six points off of a pair of three-point buckets. Junior Stiffarm had three points, which were scored during the overtime period.

Dodson fell behind 29-25 at halftime and then was outscored 15-13 in the third period. The group battled back in the fourth outsourcing the Thunderbirds 18-12 in the fourth quarter to tie the game. the score was 56-56 at the end of regulation.

"We were able to overcome (HLP's lead) by continuing to just play hard," Coach Wiggins said. "It was easy for many players to get frustrated due to shooting a low percentage from the field and free-throw line, which ultimately led to foul trouble."

According to Coach Wiggins, the Coyotes were 6-of-20 from the free-throw line and shot 32-percent from the field.

He also said that missing four Coyotes players played a hand in the team's struggle. Of the missing athletes was Dwight Werk who played in the 2021 Indigenous Bowl, a football game that featured Native American football players from several states across the US and a couple from Canada.

Dodson would hold Hays-Loge Pole to two field goals in overtime while scoring seven to win the game.

"I believe we had the momentum," Coach Wiggins said. "We were down 8 points with about four minutes left in the fourth and down two even with 7 seconds left on the clock. I believed in my team so much we elected not to foul at the end of regulation."

The Coyotes will be hosting a meet and greet on Friday, December 10 at 6 p.m. The event is free to attend and will feature a scrimmage as well as a skills competition.