Preseason Finale
Fri, 2015-12-18 05:00
News Staff
Dawgs down Modocs 61-48 to close non-district
By TJ MAXWELL
WACO – The cliché, ‘I’m ready when I roll off the bus’ took on literal meaning for the Copperas Cove Bulldawgs in their non-district finale against the Waco La Vega Pirates on Monday in Waco.
A schedule change and subsequent miscommunication found the Bulldawgs rolling up just five minutes before the tip of their final tune up before District 12-6A action kicks off tonight with the Dawgs hosting the Ellison Eagles.
“We started slow but we were able to pick it up,” said Copperas Cove head coach Billy White Jr. “We had a little trouble getting here. We got here with five minutes to go then we started the game so I was expecting us to go one way or the other. I saw we have to make sure to continue our routine of getting to the gym an hour beforehand.”
Despite the late arrival and resulting sluggish start, the Bulldawgs finished strong to improve to 7-9 heading into the district slate.
After falling behind 18-8 in the first quarter, the Dawgs outscored the Pirates 43-26 over the next 16 minutes of action to take a 51-44 lead into the final period.
“I liked they way they picked it up and kept battling,” said White. “They jumped out on us pretty good and we were able to keep our composure, battle and get back into it.”
Sophomore Justus Honea had his break out performance with a game-high tying 19 points including five shots from beyond the arc. Honea scored 11 of Cove’s 24 third-quarter points to help the Dawgs rally from a 28-27 halftime deficit to a 51-44 surplus at the end of three. He scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half.
Senior Devante Robinson chipped in 12 more points to lead the Dawgs while seniors Malyk Thomas and Wyatt Behara added eight each.
Reece led the Pirates’ scoring with 19 points followed by Blunson (12) and Harris (11).
White took advantage of the cushion for some last-second teaching with District 12-6A rapidly approaching. He worked on holding the ball to hemorrhage time from the clock and prevent a possible furious comeback. Cove held La Vega to just a few shots at the basket and four points in the fourth quarter.
“That’s why I kept that group in to see what they were able to do with it and the personnel we need to have in to do it,” said White. “We have an idea, of course, but this is a great opportunity to practice with it under the lights in a game scenario. It will give those guys a little more experience and that will come in handy down the road.”
Despite a losing record through the first 16 games, White likes what he’s seen from his inexperienced squad and feels nearly every game could have had a different outcome if a few plays went in another way.
“Out of our nine losses, only three of them were by double-digits,” he said. All the other ones were under five points and two of those were overtime and triple overtime games.”
White feels those close game situations will help them in district and possibly beyond.
“All those games we were right there to win and you can’t have any better experience than that. I’m excited about that. We’ve been in those close games and we’ve seen the crucial mistakes that turned the game the other way. We also had to make plays to get back into games. so it’s a great learning experience for our younger guys and our team as a whole. We just have to continue to get better and execute down the stretch.”
That stretch begins tonight with Ellison (8-6) in the first of 12 district clashes that could go either way. White just hopes his team has learned from the first 16 games so they can win most of the all-important 12 games to come.
“Going into district, 12-6A is a dogfight every night,” he said. “If you don’t show up to play, you will be beaten that night. We just have to make sure we’re focused, starting on Friday. When Ellison comes into town they’re going to be amped and ready to go. We’ve got to be able to capitalize on their mistakes we saw on film, but the other thing is, we have to make them play the style we want to play. We have to control the tempo.
“Rebounding and free throws will be key. At the end of the night on Friday, if I can tell you that we shot free throws well and rebounded well, I’ll have a smile on my face. If not, it will be a totally different story.”