BIG BUCK(ETS)

Junior guard helps Dover erase cold start; Harvistons fifinish it offff

You belong.

That was the message, in its simplest form, that Matt Peck told his Dover Lady Longhorns.

Its delivery came during a timeout just over two minutes into Dover’s first state tournament game in 17 years.

His squad looked the part of awestruck outsiders in the early going against Turner, not the team with a No. 1 ranking attached to its name.

And so, with Dover trailing 5-0, he called a timeout.

“We were tight. We were nervous,” Peck said. “We were doing uncharacteristic things.”

It didn’t work immediately, but it did work.

Dover’s deficit got to 9-0 before Katelyn Harviston finally put her team on the board.

Eventually the shots started falling with more frequency, as did the stops on the defensive end.

And, ultimately, Dover advanced to the semifinals with its 62-51 victory at State Fair Arena.

Dover played fifthranked Lookeba-Sickles, a 49-43 winner over Arnett in the quarterfinals, in a semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. Friday (after press time).

“I told them that we just needed to settle down and play with confidence,” Peck said of his timeout message. “I told them to take care of the basketball and know that you belong.”

Rylee Buck proved she belonged, especially in the first half.

The junior followed Harviston’s bucket with two 3-pointers, part of an 8-1 Dover run.

The Lady Longhorns (28-2) cut Turner’s lead to 16-12 by the end of the first quarter before the Lady Falcons’ Adison Lee made a 3-pointer to open the second period.

That gave Lee 14 points and Turner a 19-12 lead.

Lee didn’t score again… and Dover started to heat up for good.

Four 3-pointers by the Lady Longhorns punctuated a 12-1 run.

Buck’s fourth trey of the half with 4:51 to go in the second quarter gave Dover its first lead at 21-20.

The lead grew to six before Turner (28-5) managed a 7-0 burst in a span of 48 seconds to temporarily reclaim a 29-28 lead.

But Harviston’s putback near the buzzer gave Dover a one-point halftime advantage it wouldn’t lose.

Karlee Harviston and Buck, whose mom, Keshia Holmes, was a major part of Dover’s historic run to three consecutive titles from 2001-03, opened the second half with consecutive 3-pointers, starting an 11-0 Lady Longhorn run.

Turner did manage to trim Dover’s advantage to as few as three points at two different times in the fourth quarter.

One came in the first 30 seconds, but Katelyn Harviston answered with a quick bucket on the other end.

The other came with 5:50 to play. One minute later, Karlee Harviston delivered a three-point play to push it back to six points.

Dover held Turner to just six points and two field goals over the final 5:50.

The Lady Falcons shot 62.5 percent in the first half, but was limited to 23.1 percent over the final two quarters.

Meantime, the Lady Longhorns went 8 of 10 from the free throw line during that stretch.

“Our maturity and poise showed at the end. We knew we were going to have to make free throws and we did,” Peck said.

“We have grown a lot mentally over these last two months.”

Lee fouled out with 3:27 to play with her 14 points. Turner also got 14 from Adlin Lee and 11 from Hadley Hill. Katelyn Harviston paced Dover with 21 points while adding five rebounds.

She was 8 of 12 from the field.

Buck’s five 3-pointers helped her score 17 points. Dover made nine treys as a team.

Karlee Harviston added 16 points.

Now Dover is in the state semifinals for the first time since 2007, which is also the last time Dover was in state.

It took a few minutes to prove it, but the Lady Longhorns showed they belonged.

“We could have given up early, but we didn’t,” said Peck. “I’m proud of how they responded.”