Leyton, P-D boys come up short

The Bayard High boys' basketball team clawed its way back from a nine-point, first-half deficit to turn away Leyton's attempt at back-to-back MAC championships at Sidney Middle School on Thursday night.

While Leyton had the upper hand throughout most of the first half, the game was razor close much of the second as Bayard took home the 58-56 win. The No. 3 seed Warriors record slipped to 7-6, while No. 2 Bayard advanced to 9-4.

Leyton will be back to Sidney on Saturday to challenge the No. 5 Potter-Dix Coyotes in the consolation game at 4:45 p.m. Bayard, meanwhile, will take on top-seeded Minatare in the championship game at 8 p.m.

The Warriors had their scoring attack mounted by just four players, with Drew Brenner leading the way with 21 points. Cody McKay followed with 15, Zach Hellie 12 and James Rushman eight. Justin Baird was the high man for the Tigers with 17 points.

Throughout the first 16 minutes, it were the Warriors that had slightly the better of the play – helped by three treys off the fingertips of Brenner. The Warriors took a seven-point lead into the locker room at the half and had a pair of eight-point cushions early in the third.

But a three-pointer each from the Tigers' Phil Schuller and Jacob Hoff brought the game to a 37-37 deadlock midway through the third eight minutes. From that point on, it was a dog fight.

"They were a little more physical than we were and they executed better than we did in the second half," said Warriors' head coach Gary Oltmann. "But that was a good ball club that beat us. We've grown up a lot but we still have a lot of growing to do."

In the fourth period, Bayard took a five-point lead with less than four minutes left. An 8-2 run by Leyton, however, gave it back the lead with 1:32 left.

It was Leyton's first advantage since the opening moments of the frame. The last bucket belonged to the Tigers though, as Schuler drained what proved to be the game-winning three with 28 seconds left.

"They're a good team that hustles a lot and I think they got to a few more loose balls than we did," said a somber Brenner. "We could have done a better job running through our offense. There were times there when we just seemed lost."

But for a 4-2 lead in the opening moments of the first half, the Warriors held the advantage throughout the first half. After a Brenner three with 3:31 left in the opening quarter, the Warriors had a short-lived, five-point lead. The game was tied in the final seconds when Brenner's reverse layup ended the first eight minutes with the Warriors leading 15-13.

Hoff and Rushman traded three-pointers in the opening 61 seconds of the second period.

The Warriors gained the upper hand over the middle portion of the frame with the aid of two net shakers from downtown by Brenner.

When Rushman hit a late three, Leyton had its largest lead of the night at nine points (33-24) before Schuler got two back before the halftime buzzer.