Longhorns wrap up historic regular season
Defense leads team to 22-2 record, among best in school history
One of the best regular seasons in Dover High School boys basketball is complete.
The Longhorns wrapped it up Monday afternoon with a 66-17 victory at Canton.
The game was moved up a day to avoid possible inclement weather.
The result sees Dover head into the playoffs with a 22-2 record and ranked eighth in Class B.
Canton stood little to no chance against Dover’s smothering defense.
The Tigers had one field goal and four points at halftime.
A large majority of their points - 11 - came in the third quarter.
The game was well in hand by then.
Dover led 23-1 after a quarter as Jonah Pendergraft and Nathan Cohee combined for 17 points.
It was 37-4 at the half. Pendergraft outscored the Tigers with his 18 total points.
Cohee finished with 16.
Brennan Fletcher added nine while Lucas Conrady scored seven.
The Longhorns were without starting guard Casen Buck, who was resting a minor ankle injury.
He’s expected to play Saturday when Dover opens the playoffs with a district championship game.
Dover gave up a total of 34 points in its last three games.
For the regular season, the Longhorns surrendered 603 points, an average of just 25.1 per contest.
Only twice did teams reach the 40-point mark against Dover. Crescent’s 41 points on Dec. 7 in the finals of the Mustang Stampede Tournament were the most scored on the Longhorns. Dover won that game by 10.
Union City scored 40 on Jan. 14, a game the Longhorns won by 33.
In the two losses, the season opener to Lomega and then Jan. 17 to Pond Creek-Hunter, Dover gave up 39 and 37 points, respectively.
No. 13 Canton downs Lady Longhorns
Canton denied Dover’s bid to go into the playoffs with a five-game losing streak.
Class B’s 13th-ranked Lady Tigers knocked off Dover 40-34 Monday afternoon in Canton.
The loss gives Dover a 17-8 record for the regular season.
The Lady Longhorns will host a district championship game Saturday night to begin their playoff run.
Dover was outscored in each of the first three quarters as Canton nailed seven 3-pointers during that stretch to stake a 3725 lead.
The Lady Longhorns held Canton to just three fourth-quarter points, but couldn’t close the gap.
Rylee Buck made four of Dover’s seven 3-pointers for her 12 points.
Kynli Boeckman added eight while Joi Caldwell scored seven points.
Kamdyn Hulse led Canton with 14.