Defense carries Dover to 2 district titles

Nothing came easy for Dover on Saturday night.

But it did come with a district championship.

The Lady Longhorns managed to grind out a 30-27 victory at home over Strother to claim a Class B district crown.

The victory advanced Dover to the winner’s bracket of this week’s regional.

It begins Thursday when the Lady Longhorns host No. 3 Lookeba-Sickles at 6 p.m.

Lookeba-Sickles is the team that eliminated Dover in last season’s state semifinals.

The Lady Longhorns got off to a solid start against Strother, scoring 13 points in the first quarter and grabbing a seven-point lead.

Rylee Buck made two treys and three other Lady Longhorns knocked down a field goal.

But Dover managed just one field goal in the second quarter as Strother closed within three points.

Ashley Gamez scored five in the third and Dover pushed its lead back to nine.

But - again - the offense went quiet in the fourth.

Kynli Boeckman made two field goals, which proved to be the team’s only points.

The Lady Longhorns didn’t help themselves by missing all four free throw attempts in the final quarter.

But throughout the upsand- downs on offense, Dover’s defense was steady.

Dover didn’t give up more than nine points in any quarter.

Buck led Dover with nine points.

Gamez, Boeckman and Joi Caldwell each scored six.

Dover heads to the regional with an 18-8 record. After Thursday, the remainder of the regional will be played in Earlsboro.

Dover boys dominate for district crown

Strother scored 14 points against Dover in the second quarter last week, which is more than some teams have scored in entire games against the Longhorns.

However, the damage had already been done and more was yet to be done - as No. 8 Dover cruised to a Class B district title.

The Longhorns thumped visiting Strother 69-24 to move into the regional tournament winner’s bracket.

They’ll host Carney at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to open the regional.

By the time Strother had its breakout quarter last weekend, Dover had already jumped out to a 22-1 lead in the first.

Jonah Pendergraft did a majority of the damage with two 3-pointers and 12 points in the quarter.

The Longhorns’ lead was 22 at the half, then they went on a 21-2 run in the third quarter.

Nathan Cohee and Lucas Conrady each scored five points during that run while Pendergraft scored six more.

Pendergraft ended his night with a game-high 25.

Cohee scored nine while Conrady chipped in seven.

Dover enters the Carney matchup with a 23-2 record. After hosting Thursday, Dover will head to Earlsboro for the rest of the regional.