Warrior boys struggle in defeat

DALTON – The latest renewal of a basketball rivalry that goes back many decades took place Tuesday night as Bridgeport beat Leyton in convincing fashion 67- 40 in a non-distict matchup.

The Warriors' record slipped back to the .500 mark at 5-5 (3-0 District D2-11) while Bridgeport improved to 9-2 (2-1 District C2-12).

Leyton was led in scoring by senior Cody McKay with 15 points, while sophomores Drew Brenner added 11 and Zach Hellie seven. Bridgeport's 6-5 junior forward Quentin Baxter was good for 24 points while Jason Armateis scored 12.

The Warriors will find themselves facing schools more their own size next Tuesday with the opening of the Minuteman Activities Conference Tournament. The Warriors are the No. 3 seed and will meet No. 6 Creek Valley in Dalton at 7 p.m. Minatare and Bayard have been inserted as the top two seeds respectively.

The Warriors stayed with the Bulldogs throughout the first half before the game got away from them over the final 16 minutes. Brenner had things off to a positive start for Leyton by draining a three pointer in the opening minute. But Baxter was quick to answer with a pair of his own treys.

The Warriors took their final lead of the game midway through the first quarter. McKay finished off a hard drive to the hole and Hellie followed with a quick hit after a nice feed from Jared Westman. The 4-0 run gave the Dalton boys a 7-6 advantage. A 5-0 Bulldogs' run followed that kept them ahead to stay.

"We have to work on our offense," McKay said. "Our defense against a team as good as this wasn't the problem. We didn't run through any of our offensive plays at all."

While the Bulldogs finished the opening stanza with a 15-10 lead, they could only advance their lead by two points by the halftime buzzer, 28-21. The Warriors fell behind by as many as 10 on three occasions in the second, but reeled the 'Dogs back in to 26-21 late in the half. Baxter sank the final hoop of the half.

The Bulldogs growl intensified in the second half when they opened up with a 12-0 run which included a pair of Baxter treys. At one point, Leyton fell behind by 21 points (44-23) but Hellie and McKay made the final two buckets of the third.

Five hits from behind the arc belonged to Bridgeport over the final eight minutes while Leyton could answer with just one. Skyler Schumacher, who scored the final five points of the game, beat the buzzer for Leyton with one from downtown.

"We didn't take care of the ball at all tonight," Hellie said. "If we keep on playing like we did tonight, we wont' have much of a chance to win anything."

The Warriors face fellow MAC member Potter-Dix at home on Friday. The tipoff is scheduled for about 7 p.m. The Coyotes are the No. 5 seed in the upcoming tournament and will face fourth-seeded Garden County in Oshkosh at 7 p.m.