A title that was years in the making
Dover boys outlast Coyle for first tournament championship since 2014
DOVER’S Nathan Cohee drives the baseline during the boys championship game of the Cimarron Winter Classic. Cohee led the Longhorns in scoring as they won their first tournament in nearly a decade. [KT&FP Staff Photo]
A drought that was nearly a decade old came to a halt on Saturday night.
Dover held off a late Coyle rally to earn a 42-31 victory in the boys championship of the Cimarron Winter Classic.
The regular-season tournament championship is the program’s first since 2014. In that stretch, Dover has played in just one invitational championship game when it settled for runner-up at Mulhall-Orlando two seasons ago.
Both teams struggled out of the gate offensively, but Dover staked a 16-10 halftime lead.
The Longhorns started to warm up in the third quarter and pushed their advantage to a dozen points.
Nathan Cohee scored seven in that third quarter and Dover maintained a comfortable margin until the mid-point of the fourth quarter.
That’s when Coyle finally found signs of life on offense.
Alex Jennings made a pair of 3-pointers and Conner Moorman another.
Eventually, Coyle had played its way within six points of the Longhorns.
That’s when Cohee stepped up with the biggest shot of the game, a 3-pointer to push the advantage back to nine.
Coyle wasn’t able to answer with another serious run.
Cohee finished with four 3-pointers and 18 points.
Lucas Conrady scored nine. The Longhorns got to the title game with began to pull away from the Mustangs. Conrady finished with 16 and Casen Buck scored 10. Saturday’s win was Dover’s fifth straight as the Longhorns improved to 7-3.
Friday’s 46-32 victory over Pioneer in the semifinals.
This time it was Conrady sparking a big third quarter. He had nine of Dover’s 15 points as it