Peetz edges Leyton in close one, 56-55

After starting the season with a win-loss split at the the Carlile Classic tournament at home last week, the Peetz Bulldogs basketball team took a close 56-55 win against the Leyton Warriors at home on Thursday.

The Bulldogs improved to 2-1 on the season in a game that showcased the work of Cody Wilson for Peetz and Zach Hellie for Leyton.

The game was an even matchup from the start, with the Warriors up, 12-11 at the end of the first period. It was in that first quarter of action that Wilson and Leyton's Skylar Schumacher led off each team's scoring attempts with booming three-pointers – though Leyton would not stay in the lead for long.

The Bulldogs managed to outscore the Warriors by eight in the second period, going on a 19-11 run that saw Peetz hold onto a 30-23 lead going in to the locker room at halftime.

The battle for the win came down to the second half as Leyton fought back offensively and defensively to manage a 19-point third quarter – besting Peetz's 16-point performance – though Wilson said he wasn't going to let the game get away from his Bulldogs team.

"During halftime we talked about what we had to do," Wilson said. "I think we came out as a team and worked on getting our shots and playing our defensive game."

Leyton outscored Peetz again in the fourth period, recording a 13-10 run against the Bulldogs. With 56 seconds left in the game, Leyton's Teghan Osborne dropped a free-throw for the Warriors to tie it up 53-53.

The final seconds of the game would ultimately see the count swing to a 55-55 tie after Logan Sircy dropped a pair of Peetz free throws and Hellie returned the favor for Leyton with a pair of his own.

And then, it was time for Garrin Cox to end it all and get the win for Peetz.

With 6.1 seconds left in regulation, Cox drew a foul off Osborne to go to the line for two. After missing the first shot, Cox drained the second one and gave the Bulldogs the 56-55 lead and the victory.

Leyton had a chance to take one more shot as time expired, but Nelson grabbed the steal and held the ball as the clock ran to zero.

"I'm not really a scorer for the team and I really focus on the defensive side of things, getting the ball passed around and getting steals, so this was a game where we had to slow down and manage the game plan," Nelson said. "A big deal for us was Wilson tonight, too. He got a lot of open shots and crashed the boards."

Peetz head coach Sean Fehringer said the close game was a different experience this early in the season – and gave credit to his players for getting the win.

"Games like this are frustrating as a coach, but it is really good for the players to experience something like this in the regular season," Fehringer said. "We keep telling everyone to keep playing hard on both sides and not turn it over. For the most part we did alright. A big part of the game was limiting Schumacher from those threes. We worked well with Wilson hitting open shots and Nelson brought a huge pace on defense. Another big player in the game was Sircy. He stepped up big for us as a sophomore and is one of our leaders out there."

Leyton assistant coach Dave Wiedeman said the loss was a case of getting too far behind early in the game.

"Overall, we didn't play well in the first half of the game," Wiedeman said. "In the second half we played a lot better and with more focus. We just let them get too far ahead in the first half and could not catch them."

By the numbers

With Wilson playing less than his usual 32-minute command performance, the junior for Peetz battled for 21 points, including eight points alone in the second quarter.

Other scorers for Peetz were: Bryson Long (9), Nelson (6), Cox (6), Jake Curlee (4), Sircy (4), Patrick Naegele (3) and Tyler Gentry (3).

For Leyton, Hellie was the mirror to Wilson on the boards adding 21 points of his own, and included an especially productive 10-point third period performance. Hellie also went 9-of-12 from the free throw line.

A total of five players, including Hellie, scored for the Warriors; Schumacher tallied up a trio of three-pointers and two buckets for 13 points, while Osborne finished the game with 11 points on five buckets and a free-throw. Kenny Ernest added eight points and Martin Boyer recorded a bucket.

Leyton drops to 1-2 overall with the loss. The Warriors will face South Platte on Friday at 7 p.m. and will face Potter-Dix at home on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Peetz will host Pawnee on Friday. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.