Dawgs rally for another comeback win; Lady Dawgs fall
By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
They needed another rally to keep pace with the leaders of District 12-6A and the Bulldawgs basketball got just that with a 76-73 come-from-behind win on the road Tuesday at Shoemaker after dropping a home contest to Bryan on Friday.
The Dawgs outscored the Grey Wolves 55-38 after falling 14 points behind by the halftime break.
The Bulldawgs were unable to capitalize on the offensive end as the Grey Wolves took an eight-point lead after eight minutes of play, 19-11, and grew that lead to 14, 35-21, at the conclusion of 16 minutes of action.
The third quarter belonged to Cove as they methodically ate away at the Shoemaker lead until they were down by just two points heading into the final period.
After the Grey Wolves again inched away, the Bulldawgs converted from the free throw line to help secure the victory.
Sophomore Henry Sanchez led the Bulldawgs with 23 points while senior A’lonnie Carter added 17 points, including some key free throws, and Sean Anderson had 13 points.
Former Bulldawg, Lakyi Ellison, led the Grey Wolves with 17 points while Antwone Gonzales added 14 and Ti’ajae Owens and Trent Hudson each had 12.
Bryan Vikings 56,
Copperas Cove
Bulldawgs 43
Last Friday, the Bulldawgs had an opportunity to put themselves back on the 12-6A leaderboard, but a defensive-minded Vikings squad held the high-scoring Dawgs in check and dropped them to 1-3 in district action.
The contest started as planned for the Dawgs as they raced out to a 15-4 lead over the Vikings behind a 10-point quarter by Sanchez, including a pair of threes.
It didn’t take long for the Vikings to climb back and overtake the Bulldawgs, however, as a three by junior Dylan Glover to close the first quarter and another by senior Rodney Johnson to begin the second closed the gap to five.
A basket by junior Nic Caraway and two more by Johnson flipped the lead to Bryan, 16-15, with 5:07 left.
Two free throws by Carter and one by junior Maurice Henry, along with a basket by Sanchez, kept the Dawgs within a point until a three by senior Dom Caldwell, a basket by Glover and a putback dunk by junior Sam Esan gave the Vikings a 28-20 lead at the halftime break.
Three more three-pointers by Caldwell and a pair of baskets by Johnson helped Bryan balloon their lead to 16, 43-27.
Baskets by Carter, senior Jon McDowell to end the third quarter and one and sophomore Warren Fleming to start the fourth briefly halted the Vikings run, but baskets by Johnson and another three by Glover helped the Vikings push their lead to 18, 54-36 with just over three minutes remaining.
Johnson finished with a game-high 26 points to lead the Vikings with Caldwell adding 14.
Sanchez led the Bulldawgs’ scoring with 17 followed by Carter with 11.
The Bulldawgs (2-3 in District 12-6A) have another tough test tonight as they travel to Harker Heights to play the Knights who are currently in a three-way tie for first place at 4-1 with Ellison and Belton.
Lady Dawgs fall out of playoff chase with two more losses
The Lady Dawgs suffered a close road loss to Bryan in a 55-48 contest on Friday that dropped the team to 1-5 before a second-half rally by the Grey Wolves ended in a 52-37 Shoemaker win Tuesday night at Bulldawg Gymnasium.
In both contests, the Lady Dawgs were in contention after the first quarter of action with Cove leading Bryan 10-9 in Friday’s game and they were knotted at 7-all at the end of eight minutes in Tuesday’s game.
The Lady Dawgs would then find themselves in a deficit heading into the second half of both games.
Against Bryan, the Lady Dawgs were able to maintain pace in the second half and maintain the single-digit deficit but could never overcome the second-quarter swing.
Against Shoemaker, the Lady Wolves just kept adding to their lead with baskets by Mikaela Parker, Jamesha Reece and Shayna Cook that pushed the lead to 10, 35-25, before a basket and a three by Reece made it a 15-point advantage for the Lady Wolves.
A free throw by senior Alaura Gallups, a basket by junior Yvonna Drayton and two free throws by junior Kyra Gaston pulled Cove back within 10, 40-30 with 4:35 left in the game.
A three-pointer by Keywani Hall, an offensive rebound for a putback by Amarria Cook and a basket by S. Cook grew the Lady Wolves’ lead back to 15 with time winding down.
Both teams concluding the scoring with traditional three-point plays. S. Cook connect on one to push Shoemaker’s lead to 52-34 before Gaston answered with one to close out the game.
AZ Knotts scored 18 points to lead Cove against Bryan. She also had six rebounds and four assists followed by Samaria Bostic (10 pts, 6 rebs and 2 steals) Gaston (7 pts, 6 rebs) and Jasmine Sankey (7 pts, 15 rebs).
Leading Cove’s efforts against Shoemaker was Gaston with nine points and seven rebounds followed by Knotts (6 pts, 5 rebs), and Horton (6 pts).
The Lady Dawgs return to action at home tonight against the district-leading Harker Heights Lady Knights (7-0 in 12-6A).