Knights hold off late run by the Coyotes to secure win at home
Dunning - The Sandhills-Thedford boys basketball team withstood a late push by Anselmo-Merna as they knocked off the Coyotes 43-39 in Dunning on Jan. 14.
“The biggest key to our success Thursday night was our defense, as it has been the whole year,” Sandhills-Thedford Coach Andrew Christen said. “In the first half once we got a couple of wrinkles ironed out we were able to hold them to tough shots. In the second half, our defense was also pretty good. We did lose shooters a few times but I was pleased with our play on the defensive end. Our patience on offense was also crucial. We did a good job of moving the ball and waiting for a good looking shot.”
Just a few seconds into the contest you could already tell it was going to be a closely contested
game as the teams traded baskets. First, Drew McIntosh was able to drive the
lane and make a jumper for the Knights and then Kade Safranek knocked down a three for A-M to make it 3-2.
The Coyotes continued to build on that lead with a three-pointer by Carson Leibhart and a layup by Garret Porter to put A-M up 8-6 late in the first.
Dane Pokorny once again proved why he is the leading scorer for the S-T this season, making a clutch three to end
the first and giving the Knights the 9-8 edge.
The second quarter started similar to the first, with both teams trading buckets early on.
Quinten Myers was able to steal the ball from S-T and get it up to Porter who made a layup and put A-M ahead 10-9. The next time down, Andrew Furrow connected on a deep two-point attempt to flip the score back in the Knight’s favor.
After Wyat Lambertson
made a three up top to tie the game at 13 apiece, S-T was able to open up the lead with stout defense.
The Knights scored on five straight possessions that started with a Drew McIntosh layup. Tyson Stengel put in a 10-foot jumper to extend the lead to 23-13.
Off the bench, Seth Chandler was able to get a basket to go for the Coyotes to cut S-T lead back down to single digits at 2315 at the half.
To begin the third, it looked as if the Knights were going to start running away with the game as they built their lead up to 30-17, after a reverse layup by Furrow and a deep corner three.
A-M had different plans, as Porter knocked down a three. A three-pointer by Leibhart at the buzzer made it 30-25 in favor of S-T after three.
The Coyotes continued to trim away at the deficit in the fourth quarter. Porter’s third three of the game made it 32-28.
Every time A-M had an answer, S-T continued to funnel the ball to their playmaker Pokorny. He was able to get to the rim on the next possession and made a layup while being fouled. After the made free-throw the Knights led 35-28.
The late push continued for the Coyotes, as they finished the game with two more three-pointers. In the end, the lead was just too much to overcome as S-T took care of business at the free throw line to close the game out.
“I thought overall we did ok, we just gave up a second-quarter run,” A-M Coach Brent Myers said. “It was hard to overcome. I thought we did a good job of battling back and we gave ourselves a chance to win at the end, we just missed a couple of bunnies to make that happen. Sandhills/Thedford has a nice bunch of athletic players who caused problems for us with their size.”
Pokorny led the Knights in the victory with 15 points and eight rebounds and McIntosh had ten points. Porter with his three making ability on the night finished with 16 points for A-M, while Kade Safranek had six points.
Anselmo-Merna was back in action at home vs S-E-M on Jan. 19 and S-T takes on Hyannis at home in Thedford at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 21.