Top-ranked Dover earns tough victory

Jared Reese was confident about two things heading into last week.

First, he felt his Longhorns would be highly- ranked in the initial Class B-II basketball poll of the season.

Second, he also knew the first game after those rankings were released would be extremely tough.

He was exactly right on both accounts.

When rankings were released on Monday, it was revealed the Longhorns were No. 1 in the poll, which is voted on by coaches in the classification.

Then on Tuesday, Reese’s squad traveled to Waukomis and grinded out a 69-60 win in a back-andforth affair.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Reese after Dover improved to 6-0. “They’ve got some kids who can shoot, a skilled post player and it was on their court. I think a lot of people would have predicted them to win our conference (Skeltur) this year and for good reason.”

And Waukomis, ranked 16th in Class A, looked primed to pull off the win multiple times throughout the game.

The Chiefs jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead on Dover, prompting Reese to call a timeout.

“I usually don’t like to call those when things aren’t going good, but I really felt like we needed one there,” Reese said.

The Longhorns clawed their way back in it behind Casen Buck and Daxx Compton, which proved to be the theme of the night.

The duo combined for all but two of Dover’s 16 points in the first as they managed to take a two-point lead into the second.

Then Buck took over all the scoring in that quarter, accounting for all 12 of Dover’s points.

But back came Waukomis.

Three different Chiefs hit a 3-pointer as the home team roared back for a 33-28 halftime lead.

It grew to 37-30 early in the third quarter before Dover’s offense woke up again.

And - again - it was Compton and Buck.

A sophomore, Compton scored nine points with three field goals and a trio of free throws.

Buck, a junior, got his nine from the 3-point line.

Brennen Fletcher also added a bucket as Dover outscored Waukomis 20-11 in the quarter to regain the lead.

This time the Longhorns didn’t let it go.

Up by four after three quarters, Dover continued to add to it.

This time, six different Longhorns scored as Kyler Williams, Marco Sotelo, Randy Vitales and Fletcher all made at least one free throw.

But Compton and Buck were also pivotal in the fourth.

Buck scored three and finished his night with 27 points.

Compton poured in eight points and led all scorers with 28.

“They can both be really good and they were both really good that night,” Reese said. “The way they can attack and get to the rim really makes it tough on other teams.”

They helped offset the scoring of Waukomis’ Colt Simunek, who had 23, and Reed Hallman, who poured in 19.

Lady Longhorns bested by Waukomis

A tough offensive showing plagued the Lady Longhorns as they were dealt a 69-25 defeat by Waukomis.

Dover didn’t manage a field goal until the fourth quarter against the Lady Chiefs, who are ranked 13th in Class A.

That allowed the home team to steadily build a lead as they were up 16-3 after a quarter and 37-7 by halftime.

Entering the fourth, Dover was 15 of 24 from the free throw line.

Dover finally scored from the field in the final frame.

Leslie Soto had one of those field goals and led the team with five.

The loss dropped the Lady Longhorns to 2-4 on the season. They entered the game ranked 18th in Class B-II.