Long time in the making

Dover managed just one field goal and 10 points in the second half of the boys championship game of the Skeltur Conference Tournament on Saturday night.

The Longhorns scored only five points in the middle two quarters and 23 for the game.

They didn’t make a 3-pointer and only managed free throws in the fourth quarter.

And they won. For the first time since the early 1990s, the Dover Longhorns are the reigning Skeltur champs after defeating Class A’s 17th-ranked Pond Creek-Hunter 23-16 at the Stride Bank Center in Enid.

It was the exclamation point on a threeday run that was perhaps the stingiest the conference has ever seen.

The 19 points surrendered by Dover against Pioneer-Pleasant Vale in the quarterfinals proved to be the most the Longhorns would give up.

They won their semifinal over Garber, 49-12.

“To not give up 20 points any game in a tournament is pretty impressive,” said Dover coach Jared Reese after his team moved to 18-2. “I don’t know if that’s ever happened in boys basketball before, but if it has, it couldn’t have been very often.”

Just over a week before, Pond Creek-Hunter beat Dover 37-36 on the Longhorns’ home court, ending their 14-game win streak.

This time around the Panthers didn’t score more than six in any quarter.

Dover didn’t exactly light it up either.

Jonah Pendergraft and Casen Buck combined for four field goals and 10 points in the first quarter. Dover made two more field goals the rest of the night.

“It wasn’t like we weren’t shooting or trying to score,” Reese said. “We were getting some looks, but we just struggled to knock them down.

“And they (PC-H) were just struggling to get off a shot against our zone. They had some really long possessions just trying to get a look and that affects your offense, too.”

Dover led 15-14 entering the fourth, but gave up just two points in the final frame.

Pendergraft went 6 of 8 from the foul line and then Buck sealed the game with a pair of late foul shots.

He scored six while Pendergraft led all scorers with 15.

Garber had one good quarter against the Longhorns.

Domingo Ramirez scored eight of Garber’s 10 points in the third.

However, his two field goals in the frame were the only scored by Garber the entire game.

The Wolverines made one free throw in each the first and second quarter for their only points and then were held scoreless in the fourth.

Dover was up 17-2 at the half and still outscored Garber in the Wolverines’ best quarter.

Buck was a big reason. The sophomore scored 21 of his 23 points in the middle two frames.

The Longhorns also got nine out of Pendergraft and six from Carter Kitchens.

Dover girls claim 3rd place

The Lady Longhorns bounced back from a semi-final defeat to Waukomis to claim third place in the tournament.

They got it with their second win over Pond Creek-Hunter in just over a week, this one being by a 42-29 final.

Three Lady Longhorns scored in double figures, led by Joi Caldwell and Rylee Buck notching 12 points apiece.

Dover used a 12-4 run in the second quarter to build a 19-12 lead. The Lady Longhorns continued to build on it.

Caldwell got all of her points in the paint or at the free throw line.

Buck made four 3-pointers for her total.

Ashley Gamez added three more treys and finished with 11 points while Kynli Boeckman scored five and Madison Goodwin two.

The win came after a 43-27 loss in the semifinals.

Waukomis went on to claim the tournament championship over Garber and has won 13 straight games.

Dover ended the week with a 14-7 record.