Potter-Dix falls to top-seeded, unbeaten Minatare

Though the fifth-seeded Potter-Dix High boys' team stayed with undefeated top-seeded Minatare in the first half, it eventually found themselves in the consolation round in the Minuteman Activities Conference Tournament.

With strong second half, the Indians (11-0) reached the championship game with a 56-42 win over the Coyotes (5-8) at Sidney Middle School Thursday night.

Minatare will meet the Bayard Tigers for the championship on Saturday at 8 p.m. The Tigers snuck past the Leyton Warriors, 58-56, in the other boys' semifinal. The Coyotes and Warriors will square off in the consolation game at 4:45 p.m. at the middle school.

Cameron Purcell finished the night on the top of the scorers sheet for Potter-Dix with 11 points. Cole Christensen added eight, while Jake Johnson and Trace Sharman added six and Kelsey Rozelle five. Yovan Perez of Minatare led all scorers with 19 points.

While the Coyotes were just one point down (22-21) after 16 minutes, the Indians began to inch away in the third quarter. The game was still very much in doubt until the last frame, but Minatate opened the second half on a 6-2 run. Rozelle kept the game momentarily in check when he hit from downtown to keep it a two-point game at 28-26.

"A lot of our shots started not falling in the second half," Sharman said. "We'd get the ball down low but a lot of the short ones weren't going in."

For the Indians, their shots began to fall with more regularity as the game wore on. In the final two minutes of the third quarter, Minatare had stepped out to an eight-point lead at 38-28. Sharman and Trevor Harms helped reel the Indians back in to close the third. Sharman's hoop was opportunistic as he made a nice steal under the basket and turned it back up for a deuce.

"We made some miscues on defense and they were getting to the foul line," said Coyotes' head coach Chad Miller. "When they got to the line, they hit their free throws and we struggled more."

With the game still there for the taking at 45-40 with 3:01 to play, the Indians went on a 9-2 run that took the game into the final 30 seconds. While Minatare was fouled in the waning moments, they continued to make their charity shots. The Coyotes were 2 for 6 from the line over the final eight minutes, while the Indians went 7 for 9.

"We talked about how (Minatare) would have more pressure on them as the higher seed," Sharman said. "But they didn't look like it in the fourth quarter."

Though they fell down quickly 2-0, a Cooper HIcks layup and a Purcell three-pointer gave the Coyotes an early 5-2 lead. From that point until the end of the first quarter, the Coyotes did not trail and took a 13-12 lead into the second eight minutes.

Minatate quickly took the lead back in the second quarter and led by as many as three midway through the frame. But for the narrow lead they started the period with, it took back-to-back hoops by Rozelle and Purcell midway through to get it back. Though still far from settled, Minatare took the lead for good to close out the half, 22-21.