Lady Warriors Dominate Potter-Dix

Leyton's Lady Warrior basketball team traveled to Potter Tuesday night to take on the rival Potter-Dix Lady Coyotes in an early season matchup.

Both teams are re-tooling their teams after losing key members due to graduation, but Tuesday night's results show that the Potter-Dix squad still has a long way to go to find their winning formula.

Potter-Dix has had the upper hand between the schools in recent years, but Leyton's performance Tuesday night showed that the days of Lady Coyote dominance are in the past, at least at this stage of the season.

The Leyton girls opened up the contest fast, scoring at will while smothering the Lady Warriors with an aggressive press defense that challenged Potter-Dix on every possession, causing turnovers and bad passes while limiting the Lady Coyotes to desperation shots from the outside that continuously missed the mark.

The Lady Warriors broke open the game in the first quarter, ending the period with a 21-to-0 lead and never let up on the pressure. The Leyton girls were sharp, with senior Mariah Draper knocking down outside shots and three-pointers while junior Madelyn Watchorn and senior Carly Fortune cashed in with layups and short jump shots. The Leyton defense was so dominant that the Lady Coyotes struggled to score any points, as they were smothered by the press defense as soon as they gained position to attempt a shot.

Potter-Dix finally got on the board early in the second quarter on a free-throw attempt, but one point was all the Lady Coyotes could manage in the entire half, as the girls went into halftime with Leyton leading 35-to-1.

Potter-Dix head coach Jeff Einspahr commented on the matchup, saying, "Leyton has a very quick and athletic team, and we struggled matching up with them offensively and defensively."

Leyton head coach Lance Howitt noted the Lady Warrior's defense sparked the team, saying, "I thought the girls opened the game with great intensity on defense, and that allowed us to push the ball up the floor and get good shots from our offense early in the game."

In the second half, Leyton did a good job limiting the Lady Coyotes to just one shot per possession, and most of the Potter-Dix attempts were low-percentage outside shots which missed the mark. By the end of the third period, the Lady Warriors were up 45-to-5, and the mercy rule was enacted, running the clock continuously for the remainder of the game. The Lady Warriors manged another 11 points against two from the Lady Coyotes, ending the game with a final score of 56-to-7.

Howitt was pleased with the girls' performance, but noted, "We still need to improve on boxing out on the defensive glass. If we can improve in that area as a team we will have even more opportunities to push the ball and use our athletic ability. We have three game left before the Christmas Break and we need to get on a winning streak so we can come back and be in a good position for the MAC tournament in January."

Einspahr, although disappointed with the game's outcome, saw the positives of the team's performance, saying, "I am very proud of our team's never quit attitude, no matter what the score. The Lady Coyotes practice every day with a great attitude, and we will continue to work hard and improve in each game."

Both teams are back in action Friday night with Leyton hostingMcPherson County while Potter-Dix travels to Iliff, Colo., to take on Caliche.