Lady Coyotes lose close game to Nashua; Looking to improve

The Dodson Lady Coyotes lost a pair of games last week.

They had a close game against the Nashua Lady Porcupines last Friday. They ultimately lost 36-29.

The Lady Coyotes were led by Sophomore Shawnee KillEagle who scored 11 points.

KillEagle has shown that she want to win, and more time on the court will benefit the team.

“She has ball smarts, she’s very athletic. She gets things and has more confidence on the floor,” Dodson Head Coach Brandy hunter told the PCN.

Janessa Henry scored 10 points. Jacina Doney scored five points. Wozek Chandler scored three points.

“I felt like this was the first game that we went out as a team and did what we needed to do,” Coach Hunter said. “Three of my starters are very shy and the expectations for them have increased... But they’re doing a decent job and everything I ask of them.”

In the team’s 62-43 loss to the Turner Tornadoes last Thursday, Dodson had more trouble protecting the ball, turning it over 21 times.

Janessa Henry had an impressive game, leading all scorers with 26 points, though she only scored four in the first half.

“She had a very slow first half, which is very slow first half which is unusual for Janessa,” Coach Hunter said.

At half-time, Coach hunter urged her girls, encouraging them to give 110 percent to show Turner that the Lady Coyotes were indeed a good team.

Henry must have gotten the message because she exploded for 24 points in the second half.

“She did exactly of what I asked of her,” Coach Hunter said.

Janessa was eight of fourteen from the free throw line and was strong in the paint.

Doney had eight points in the game. KillEagle had four points. Kyla Racine and Wozek Chandler had two points.

Dodson kept pace with Turner throughout the first half scoring 17 points, while giving up 23.

After half-time, Turner turned up the jets and left dodson in the dust scoring 21 to Dodson’s seven. Making the score 44-24 and putting the game out of reach.

With many of the team’s original starters no longer attending Dodson high, the team has been stretched and will have to continue to dig deep as the end of the regular season approaches.

The team has only had two practices and two games since losing their starters.

“It showed. We were tired, worn out and didn’t have the energy and stamina to push ourselves like we should’ve,” Coach Hunter said.

She and Coach Francine Stiffarm encouraged the girls to play hard and push through and it paid of.

“Making practices count is going to be the best thing that we can do,” Coach hunter said. “We need to work on our fundamentals so we can bring the turnovers down to around ten (a game).”

She went on to say, the team has to continue on building the confidence of their younger players.

With a couple of weeks remaining and new leaders emerging, it seems that if the team can get it together they may be able to in a game or two in district tournament.

First, they will take on Opheim Thursday in Dodson at 6 p.m.

They will than take on Malta’s JV on Tuesday, February 10, in Dodson at 6 p.m.