Mavs, Coyotes Clash; now set for postseason

The North Country Mavericks and Dodson Coyotes are headed to the postseason and both teams are hoping to be two of three teams to punch their tickets to the Eastern C Divisional tournament set to start on Wednesday, March 2.

In order to advance, the Coyotes and Mavericks will need to finish in the top three at the 3C District Tournament in Wolf Point, set to start on Wednesday, February 16, and conclude on Saturday, February 19.

The two Phillips County teams faced off on Tuesday, February 8, in Whitewater. The Mavs won 57-47.

"It was definitely sloppy, but the one thing that I did see was that we were able to run our offense with more time of possession," Mavericks Head Coach Barry Malone said. "We tend to think that there is only a six second shot clock. We had a lot of turnovers tonight, but luckily we hit the shots when it counted."

The Mavericks were led by Aiden Albus who had 24 points. Trey Johnson had 12 points, Blaine Downing had 10 points, Coy Bowman had eight points, and Kade Strommen had three points.

Dodson was led by Kadin Racine who had a game-high 21 points. Alex Werk had 14 points. Sebastian Best had five points and Tanner Ball had three points.

The Coyotes led during the first quarter, outsourcing the Mavs 16-13. The Coyotes struggled to score in the second quarter only adding three points to their tally, while North Country scored 16. The Coyotes outscored the Mavs 13-12 in the third, but North Country held on in the fourth tallying 16 points to Dodson's 15, in a fast-paced game filled with turnovers by both teams.

The Mavericks would go on to lose their final games of the regular season, falling 69-32 to the Lustre Christian Lions on Friday, February, in Hinsdale, then 50-46 to the Frazer Bearcubs on Saturday, February 12, in Frazer.

Albus led the charge against Frazer, scoring 16 points. Downing had 15 points, Johnson had 12 points, and Coy Bowman had three points.

Johnson led the Mavericks in their loss to Lustre with 17 points. Taylor Mogan had eight points, Downing had four points, and Albus had three points.

The Dodson Coyotes split their last two games of the regular season, defeating the Frazer Bearcubs 80-43 last Friday, but falling 60-43 to the Lustre Lions, who won the 3C crown.

Despite their loss to Lustre, Dodson coach Ro Wiggins said that the team left the game with momentum and motivation.