Coyotes Fall to Fall City Sacred Heart

Mike Motz, Sidney Sun-Telegraph

Potter-Dix's Coyote Boys Basketball team had another great year, running up a 19-and-5 record and going through stretches of the season where they looked unbeatable. There were very few weaknesses on the team, although one proved to be their undoing in the district Final game. The Coyotes have had a tendency to have a "bad quarter", but usually have the talent and athleticism to overcome that weakness. However, it proved that a team like Falls City Sacred Heart would not let that kind of weakness go unexploited.

The Coyotes went into the District Final game, which was held on Tuesday, February 28 at neutral site Kearney Catholic High School, riding high after two decisive wins in their Subdistrict and looking for a State Tournament berth. The Falls City squad came into the contest with a 17-and-8 record, with a tough schedule the the Class D Eastern schools always seem to play.

The game started close, with both defenses covering well and the offenses looking methodically for openings. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 13-to-12 in favor of FCSH, and it looked like the game would be close the whole way. But the second quarter turned out to be the story of the game. Potter-Dix suffered through a "bad quarter", unable to stop the fast offense of the Irish, while struggling to score. The Irish early on had good looks beyond the three-point arc, and took advantage. They buried four three point attempts in the first two minutes of the quarter, sprinting away with a lead. Although the Coyotes responded with scores of their own, the Irish seemingly scored on every possession. They also harassed the Coyote offense and caused turnovers, and gave very few clean looks to the Coyote shooters. The Coyotes were able to match their scoring output of the first quarter with 12 points, but the Irish racked up 29 points with five three point hits, and took a big 42-to-24 lead into the halftime intermission.

The Coyotes would need their own lopsided quarter in the second half to get back in the game, but it did not happen. The Irish stayed steady in the second half, matching or outscoring the Coyotes' offense in the final two periods to cruise to a 66-to-44 victory. In his final game, senior Luke Kasten scored 12 points with five rebounds and three assists. Senior Zach Rotert also had 12 points and pulled down six rebounds and had an assist in the loss.

The Irish moved on the the NSAA State Tournament as the No. 6 seed in Class D2, and were scheduled to match up against No. 3 seed Parkview Christian in the first round of the tournament.