Passing of the torch

The Dodson basketball team wracked-up two wins last week, saw a long-standing scoring record broken, and added the newest, and smallest, Coyote to their roster all in less than 48-hours.

Last Thursday night, the Coyotes headed to Nashua to take on the Porkies and though the matter of who would be victorious on the night was never really in question (Dodson led 35-26 at halftime before taking the 78-57 win) the quest for a school scoring record lingered into the waning minutes of the contest.

"Skip kept telling me how much I had scored during timeouts because he was keeping count," said Corbin LoneBear, Dodson junior.

The "Skip" LoneBear referenced was none other than Skip Cole, DHS Class of 1981, and holder of the school record of 44 points which he achieved in 1981 against Frazier (and who just so happened to drive LoneBear and his teammates on the team bus to Nashua on the night.)

"A few players have come close to the record, but last night Corbin finally did it with 45 points," Cole said. "I was rooting for him to beat the record and I was the first one to high-five him when he did."

Cole joked that he thought about not bringing LoneBear home on the bus for a split second and added how proud he was of his record-beater.

"If you want to find Corbin in the summer, or after school, all you have to do is look in this gym," Cole said. "He has worked hard to be where he is at now and he is a great kid."

As the Coyotes warmed-up for their Friday night tilt, LoneBear told the PCN he thought he would have a big scoring night against Nashua, but he had no idea how big.

"I kind of had a thought I would have a big game because Shaun was out for the night and I knew I would have to step up," he said.

Shaun Ball missed the Thursday game as his son, Karston Archie Ball, was born at 5:15 a.m. that morning. Ball and Karston's mother, fellow Dodson student Tiffany Cliff, were happily stationed in Havre at the hospital with their new bundle of joy as the Coyotes picked up their third win on the season behind LoneBear's 45-point effort (which also featured a few dunks.)

LoneBear made 16 2-point baskets in the game, three from three-point range, and drained 4-of-8 from the free-throw line in the 78-59 win.

When the Coyotes took the court against Nashua the next night, they did so with Ball back in action sporting the names of his baby boy, "Karston" on one Nike and "Archie" on the other.

"I dedicate this game and every game to my son," Ball said after the 79-55 victory over the visiting Tornadoes.

After a relatively close contest on Friday night in the first half, Dodson dusted the Tornadoes in the third quarter by a 21-3 tally to take a 61-28 lead into the final frame.

"I told them to space the floor and they can't guard you," Dodson Head Coach Frank Benson said of the halftime instruction to his team."

In victory, the Coyotes saw 10 different people score including a game-high 27 from LoneBear who added a dunk in the first half following an athletic pass from teammate Mike Jaynes from the half court line. Sam Main notched 15 points in the win, and Ball started the scoring for the Coyotes on the night with seven straight points to end the contest with 11. Caleb Ditmar added eight, Dwight Werk tallied six, Jaynes scored four, Tyrese Messerly and Jeramiah Benson each had three, and Alex Werk and Landis Walker each had one.

The Lady Coyotes were the opening game of the night in Dodson and fell 59-39 to Turner to push their record on the season to 1-4. The home team found themselves down 21-9 after one and 43-21 at halftime before outscoring the Lady Tornadoes 18-16 in the second half.

Dodson was led in points by Kailee Henry who scored 22, followed by Ella Messerly who notched 21. Christina Jaynes scored nine for Dodson, while Lindsey Fetter scored two and Ireland Best scored one.