All is not lost

Dover wasn’t necessarily looking for a loss. But it found one. It’s also not necessarily a bad thing.

Class B’s top-ranked Lady Longhorns were upset Saturday in a 44-41 loss at Geronimo.

It was the first loss of the season for Dover, which had won its first 20 games of the season.

It wasn’t a game originally on Dover’s schedule.

The DHS squads had a Jan. 16 contest with Coyle canceled due to weather and the two schools couldn’t find a makeup date.

That left Dover looking to fill an open spot on its schedule.

Geronimo, located south of Lawton, was a willing participant and a formidable foe.

The Lady Blue Jays entered the game ranked sixth in Class B and were 21-1 entering the day.

And they looked every bit the part.

As Dover struggled to find its offense, Geronimo got out to a 13-5 lead in the first quarter.

That lead swelled to as many as 15 points before Karlee Harviston was able to drop a 3-pointer near the end of the first half.

“We just turned the ball over way too much,” said coach Matt Peck, not only referencing the first half, but much of the game.

Meanwhile, defensively, Dover struggled to stop the Lady Jays.

They made six first-half treys, three of them by McKenzie Huffman.

She had 13 at halftime while Chrissa Gomez had scored nine.

Geronimo scored 32 in the first half, but Dover’s defense showed up coming out of the break.

“We finally started getting some stops and we were getting some buckets in transition,” Peck said.

Dover went on an 11-4 run in the third quarter and continued to close the gap in the fourth.

The Lady Longhorns finally caught up and tied it at 40-40 on Katelyn Harviston’s three-point play.

Dover even got the ball back with a chance to take the lead, but that possession in the game’s final minute ended with another turnover.

The team had 22 of them in the game.

Geronimo converted the turnover into points “and we were playing catchup from there,” Peck said.

Gomez ended the game with 17 points, including some clutch free throws down the stretch.

Huffman had 15, but only two in the second half.

Karlee Harviston scored 17 before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Katelyn Harviston scored eight while Rylee Buck added six.

“We had the turnovers and missed a lot of wide open layups,” Peck said. “We had opportunities to win, but didn’t capitalize.”

The type of game Dover got was exactly what Peck was looking for when he agreed to make the drive south.

“We needed to be tested before we head into the playoffs,” he said.

“We learned so much, including that we need to get more mentally tough.”

Dover still has four regular season games remaining. Though wins aren’t guaranteed, none of the four is as daunting a foe as Geronimo offered.

“The loss is a positive,” Peck said. “As the season comes to an end, the pressure starts to get to you. It feels good to relieve the pressure.

“Now let’s just go play.”

Double-doubles help Dover thump Geronimo

Geronimo mostly matched Dover shot-forshot in the first quarter.

The Longhorns put an end to that the rest of the game.

After giving up 14 points in the first eight minutes, Dover put the clamps on the Blue Jays the rest of the night in pulling away for a 73-33 win on the road.

Nathan Cohee and Lucas Conrady recorded double- doubles as Dover improved to 13-8. Cohee scored 26 points to go with 11 rebounds and four assists.

Conrady complemented that with 14 points, 10 assists and six boards.

The duo combined for 11 points in the first as Dover took a 16-14 lead.

Geronimo’s Mavrick Kriz made three 3-pointers to help keep his team in it during that span.

However, he didn’t score another point the rest of the night.

Cohee and Conrady scored steadily, as did freshman Casen Buck.

He had 10 points by halftime and also finished his day with 14.

Already with seven points, Cohee added eight more in the second as Dover went on a 20-6 run.

The junior then added nine more in the third quarter as the Longhorns extended their lead to 52-27.

Cohee continued to light it up in the fourth quarter as Colton Burns knocked down three treys for all nine of his points.

Dover made 10 treys as a team, four of them by Cohee.

After making four 3-pointers in the first quarter, Geronimo had just three more the rest of the night.