Sidney D1-12 boys’ Subdistrict tournament

What has gotten into the Potter-Dix boys basketball team during this week’s Sidney D1-12 Subdistrict tournament?

According to Coyotes coach Chad Miller, the answer is as simple as the shot chart.

“Lately, we’ve been getting good shots, but they haven’t been dropping,” Miller said Tuesday night after his fourth-seeded club pulled a mild 62-47 semifinal upset of No. 1 seed Minatare inside Cabela’s Athletic Facility. “We’ve been shooting like 33 percent. Tonight we took care of the basketball, and we shot much, much better.”

Miller fully realizes that as Bryant Knigge and Luke Johnson go, so do the Coyotes (8-13). That duo’s numbers took care of the Indians (12-7) Tuesday.

Bryant Knigge ripped the cords for 29 points and Johnson — saddled with foul trouble in the third period — added a dozen.

Couple that scoring with some savvy defense defense over the final three quarters, and P-D had earned a spot opposite Crawford (11-11), a 55-40 winner against Garden County, in Thursday’s 7 p.m. title game.

Potter-Dix, a five-point loser at home last weekend to Minatare, appeared ripe for being sidelined Tuesday night after the young Indians built a 17-12 lead at the first stop. Led by sophomore Javier Guerrero’s eight points, Minatare hit 7 of 11 shots.

Miller’s Coyotes wouldn’t back down, though. Brady Knigge spiked a 3-pointer to open the second period, and after Guerrero hit a pair of foul shots, P-D began pressuring the basketball.

The net result was a 9-2 move — capped by Luke Johnson’s 10-foot jumper in the lane — that gave P-D a 24-23 edge.

Yovan Perez answered with a trey for Minatare, but Bryce Knigge didn’t take long to give the Coyotes the lead for good with a three-point play off a drive down the lane.

Knigge’s basket kick-started a 9-1 run to close the first half, which he closed himself with a score off the right side. Potter held a 33-27 command at intermission.

Miller credited Brady Knigge’s defense on Guerrero as a spark for his team.

“Usually we’ll man two opponents and zone the other three,” Miller said. “Putting Brady on Guerrero because he’s a little bit quicker. Guerrero had 12 on us Friday, and Brady prides himself on playing the other team’s best player, and shutting him down.”

Which is exactly what happened: Guerrero was limited to four points in the final three periods.

P-D came out red-hot and opened a double-digit lead in the third-quarter. Back-to-back scores from Bryant Knigger produced a 37-27 advantage at the 6:20 mark. The advantage was 45-34 after three periods when Luke Johnson used a strong move down the left baseline for a score.

“We’ve been coming out cold in the third quarter all year,” Miller said. “It was nice to get a 10-point lead and carry that into the fourth quarter.”

The final chapter didn’t start very promising when Luke Johnson drew his fourth personal and had to head to bench with 7:32 remaining. With two other post players (freshman Cole Christensen and sophomore Trevor Harms) out with injuries, Miller called on 5-foot-9 senior Brandon Gasseling to fill the void.

Gasseling picked up a steal and hit a pair of free throws in Johnson’s absence.

“Gasseling did a good job,” Miller said. “He’s a smart player, he did had a big steal and some big stops when we needed them. Like all our bench players, they know they need to be ready when their number gets called.”

Still, Minatare was still able to cut the lead to a half-dozen, 49-43, on Chance McAllister’s putback score with 5:02 remaining.

Eventually, Miller had to use a timeout to get Johnson back in, which he did at 3:48. His return seemed to spark his teammates.

Luke Johnson stuck back a Jake Johnson miss, Bryant Knigge buried a 16-footer off the right side and Kyle Gorsuch assisted on a Jake Johnson layup, part of a 6-0 run that all but put the game away for P-D, 55-43.

Minatare never got closer than eight points the rest of the way, as Bryant Knigge finished things off at the foul line by making 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:28.

“Bryant is our floor general, and he’s the one we want to handle the ball late,” Miller said.

Bryant Knigge and Luke Johnson combined for 41 points, with Jake Johnson adding seven points, Gorsuch and Brady Knigge five each.

Juarez scored 13 to lead Minatare, whose roster has one senior, two juniors, five sophomores and three freshmen. Guerrero added 12, but had only a pair of foul shots and a fourth-quarter field goal after his first-period salvo.

Miller realizes his team is gaining some traction in the postseason, where it’s win — or go home.

“All the teams are on even ground, and we don’t want to get over-confident,” Miller said. “We have two injuries in the post, so we know teams can try and take advantage of that. It’s good to be on a roll, but we have to take care of business. Whoever we play we have to make sure we’re on.”

Boys Subdistrict

Sidney D1-12

At Cabela’s Athletic Facility

First semifinal

Potter-Dix 62, Minatare 47

POTTER-DIX (8-13)

Gorsuch 2-4 0-0 5, BraKnigge 2-4 0-0 5, BryKnigge 10-16 9-10 29, JJohnson 3-9 1-2 7, LJohnson 6-14 0-0 12, Gasseling 0-0 2-2 2, Magninie 0-0 2-2 2, Purcell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 12-14 62

MINATARE (12-7)

Juarez 5-9 2-5 13, Perez 3-7 0-0 8, Guerrero 4-10 3-3 10, McAllister 3-9 1-2 7, Longoria 3-7 1-2 7, Garfio 0-0 0-2 0, Montelongo 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 7-14 47

Potter-Dix 12 21 12 17—62

Minatare 17 10 7 13—47

3-point goals — Potter-Dix 2-8 (Gorsuch 1-2, BraKnigge 1-2, BryKnigge 0-2, L.Johnson 0-1, Purcell 0-1). Minatare 4-11 (Perez 2-4, Juarez 1-3, Guerrero 1-3, McAllister 0-1). Turnovers — Potter-Dix 20, Minatare 24. Rebounds — Potter-Dix 25 (BryKnigge 6, JJohnson 6, LJohnson 6), Minatare 21 (McAllister 6). Team fouls — Potter-Dix 10, Minatare 13

Second semifinal

Crawford 55, Garden County 40

Crawford 16 14 9 16—55

GardenCo 9 19 5 7—40

Crawford (11-11): Motz 1 0-0 2, Michael 1 7-12 10, Soester 2 5-8 10, Osmotherly 11 3-6 30, Serres 1 1-2 3. Totals 16 16-28 55

Garden County (9-11): Cano 6 0-0 15, Davis 5 0-2 10, Coyne 2 2-6 6, McLaughlin 2 0-0 4, Smith 1 1-2 3, Bleidt 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 3-10 40

3-point goals — Crawford 7 (Osmotherly 5, Michael, Soester), Garden 3 (Cano 3). Team fouls — Crawford 9, Garden 24. Fouled out — Smith, Cano