North Eugene 75-63
It was a tough night in Central Point for the Crater Comets in a Midwestern League showdown with the North Eugene Highlanders. Both teams entered the night at 2-0, tied for the conference lead. North Eugene came out and applied the defensive pressure early with a zone press that led to some early turnovers for the Comets. The Highlanders capitalized with hot shooting from three point range and led 20-17 after one period. Ty Dahlin kept the Comets close with seven first quarter points including a late three that trimmed the North Eugene lead to three. The Comets battled back in the second quarter led by Cody Dutkiewicz’s eight points and another seven from Dahlin. Crater outscored the Highlanders 19-17 in the quarter cutting the lead to one-point, 37-36 at the half. The Highlanders turned up the intensity another notch at both ends of the floor starting the second half, continuing to apply full-court defensive pressure as well as driving hard to the rim, drawing eight Comet fouls in the third quarter putting them in the bonus the rest of the way. They also dominated the boards at both ends on their way to out scoring Crater 20-9 in the quarter to take a 57-45 lead entering the final frame.
Crater went down by an insurmountable 19 points midway through the fourth quarter and made a late run that came up short, trimming the final deficit to 12, 75-63. Ty Dahlin led the Comets with 19 points and Cody Dutkiewicz chipped in 12. The Comets now 11-4 overall, (2-1conference) will next face Churchill in Eugene on Jan. 20th, while North Eugene is now 7-7 overall (3-0 conference) and will play Thurston on Jan. 17th.
by Rick Dyer
