Lady Coyotes claim MAC championship

By dethroning reigning champion Leyton, the Potter-Dix girls' basketball team realized a season-long goal Saturday by winning the MAC championship at Sidney Middle School.

Though much of the game was closely contested, the Coyotes dominated the second quarter on its way to the 40-32 win. The Coyotes are now 12-2 on the season while the Warriors stand at 6-8. With the MAC title wrapped up securely, the Coyotes can now focus on fighting their way to a District D1 District 12 championship.

"This is a big point for us and one we've been talking about since the beginning of the season," said Coyotes' head coach Jeff Einspahr. "We haven't won since '06 so it's been a major goal of ours."

One of the Coyotes' more immediate goals was to keep the Warriors' Diedra Waite in check. Einspahr and his team watched first hand as Waite controlled the inside against Creek Valley two days earlier on her way to 16 points. While Waite was far from shut out, the Coyotes' defensive efforts held her to a manageable nine points – especially after the first eight minutes.

Anna McLaughlin led all scorers with 16 points while Dawson Sharman added seven and Rozell six for the Coyotes. Berner's 10 points led the Warriors with Waite adding nine. Cruise scored six points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds.

"It's been a pretty tiring run lately and the team is a little tired," Einspahr said. "We'll get a couple of days off but It won't get any easier on Tuesday."

"We always want to beat Potter and we know how good they've been this year," said the Warriors' Natalie Cruise. "Keeping the title by beating them would have been really nice but it wasn't to be."

The second quarter proved to be where the Coyotes took control of the game with a 12-3 scoring advantage. With the game still close after a Kaitlyn Berner layup (12-8), the Coyotes finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 19-8 halftime lead. Though Leyton actually outscored the Coyotes 24-21 in the second half it was too little, too late to rescue the championship.

The Coyotes are back on the floor Tuesday when they host the Pine Bluffs (Wyo.) Lady Hornets. The Hornets should prove a stiff challenge for the Coyotes as they've compiled a 6-3 record against good competition. The Warriors have until Friday to regroup when they host Minatare.