Mavs, Coyotes still fighting

The North Country Mavericks have both feet into the Eastern C Divisional Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, March 2, in Sidney, while the Dodson Coyotes have one foot in the door.

To get that other into the Eastern C, the Coyotes, who took fourth place at the 3C Tourney, must win a challenge game this Friday in Wolf Point.

The challenge game will be against Plentywood who defeated Circle 49-31 in the 2C fifth-place game on Monday, February 21.

The North Country Mavericks earned a spot into the Eastern C by defeating the Dodson Coyotes 50-48 in the District 3C consolation finals on Saturday, February 19.

North Country was led by senior Trey Johnson who had 21 points. Aiden Albus had 16 points, Coy Bowman had eight points, Blaine Downing had three points, and Kade Strommen had two points.

Dodson was led by Alex Werk who had a game-high 28 points. Kadine Racine had 10 points. Mikey Jaynes had four points, Dwight Werk had three points.

The Mavericks overcame a poor start in which they were behind 15-2 at the end of the first quarter. The Coyotes had a 35-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Mavericks would go on a seven-point run to start the fourth quarter, capped by a trey from Coy Bowman to give North Country a 36-35 lead with 5:30 remaining.

Racine responded with a trey on the next possession, putting the Coyotes up 38-36.

Johnson would score the next four points of the game, putting North Country up 40-38.

The Mavericks would lead by as much as six points before the final buzzer. Dodson brought the game to one score, 48-45, with 40 seconds thanks to free throws made by Cash KillEagle and A. Werk.

A Racine steal triggered a quick foul by North Country, but his 1-and-1 attempt fell short.

Maverick Bowman was fouled and made only one of his 1-and-1 attempts. The score was 49-46 with 15.6 remaining.

Werk drew a foul on the next possession on a layup attempt that was called on the floor. He made both attempts. The score was 49-48.

Bowman was then fouled with 8.6 seconds left. He missed the shot, but North Country grabbed the rebound.

Johnson was then was fouled and sent to the line with 6.8 seconds left. He made one of his two double bonus shots.

A timeout was called by Dodson with 2.9 seconds left. Then a timeout by North Country prior to the inbound pass.

Johnson would steal the ball, leaving no time left on the clock.

NORTH COUNTRY MAVERICKS

To reach the third-place game, North Country defeated Frazer 61-40 in the opening round on Wednesday.

“We had to shut down their outside game with defense,” Albus said.

They lost their Semifinal game to Lustre 57-20 on Thursday and defeated Nashua 61-36 in the consolation semifinals.

In their win over Nashua, Albus had a game-high 23 points. Johnson scored 18 points and Downing had 14 points.

Johnson was asked about the key to the team’s win over the Porcupines.

“Taking care of the ball and knocking down shots,” Johnson said.

In their loss to Lustre, Albus had 12, Johnson had six points, and Bowman had two points.

Johnson was asked about the team’s year so far.

“We have had quite a few lows, but we keep digging deep every game and giving it all that we’ve got,” Johnson said. “It’s been rough with the younger members but we are bringing them along quite nicely.”

Albus was asked about the growth that their younger players have shown since the season started.

“Just a better overall understanding of the game,” Albus said. “Just knowing when to and when not to.”

DODSON COYOTES

Dodson defeated the Nashua Porcupines in the opening round 55-47 on Wednesday.

“I think we just went out there and didn’t make the moments bigger than they needed to be,” Dodson Head Coach Ro Wiggins said. “Also, I made it clear to the team that it will be a game of runs and to not get discouraged when they (Nashua) would go on their run.”

They lost to Scobey 56-29 in the semifinals on Thursday, and then defeated Frazer 78-70 in the consolation semifinals on Friday.

The Coyotes were led in scoring against Nashua by Jaynes who had 16 points. A. Werk had 14 points, and Racine had 12 points.

Werk had 20 points against Scobey.

Dodson had four scorers in double digits in their win over Frazer. D. Werk had 21 points.

“Dwight was in the right place at the right time,” Jaynes said of his teammate. “Having Dwight underneath, he takes up four bodies by himself. So it kind of opens it up for everybody.”

A. Werk had 12 points. Jaynes and Racine who were captains had 11 points each. Treyten Stiffarm had eight points.

Jaynes was asked what was key in their win over Frazer.

“The key was going out playing hard and physical,” Jaynes said. “I think that we were the better team. Our bench played well in the first quarter and that helped us out throughout the game.”

The heroic efforts of Frazer’s Keein Ackerman, did not go unnoticed. Ackerman tallied 40 points in the game.

“They were giving him a lot of screens,” Jaynes said. “Everywhere that I went, it was screen, after screen, after screen, and eventually he got open, he shot it and it went in.”

Despite the glaring number that Ackerman put up, the Coyotes felt that their team defense played well.

Racine was asked what it would take for Dodson to compete hard in their next postseason game.

“Teamwork,” Racine said. “Work together and do our best.”