Horsemen triumph over Bulldogs

The Plains Horsemen claimed victory in their final regular home game of the season with a 60-53 triumph against the Mission Bulldogs.

Saturday was a packed house for Plains High School Senior Night when six seniors were honored, including players Joe Martin, Zander Czifro, Zephaniah Dines, Nicholas Hill, Aden West and Anaya Loberg, along with team managers Marissa Young and Hallie Corbin, who recently enlisted in the Army National Guard. See the Trotters article for its seniors.

The Horsemen's conquest against the Bulldogs took the team to an 11-7 overall record and a 5-5 conference record, said Tyrel Allen, the team's head coach. The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 3-15 record. Alec Cole's JV squad won 61-29.

Cooper Meredith was the high scorer with 24 points, followed by Jacob Lulack with 10 and Brodie Lapierre with 10.

"The boys were ready to play against Mission. With it being the last game of the season for the JV, they wanted to leave it all out on the court. That is exactly what they did," said Cole, who's in his third year as the JV coach. "Super proud of this group for working hard all season," said Cole. His team finished the season with a 13-5 record.

The varsity Horsemen started off strong with West drawing first blood with a 2-pointer. Mission quickly tied things up with two good free throw shots, but Loberg nabbed one of two free throws to regain the lead. A 3-pointer by Horseman Wyatt Butcher extended the lead, followed by Plains foreign exchange student Pablo Hernandez and Dines for a 12-6 score. Mission came back to within one point with a 3-pointer. With 10 seconds on the clock, Loberg scored, but the Bulldogs scored with a mere five seconds to end the first quarter 14-13 and a Plains lead.

West scored right away in the second with a shot from under the rim and a minute later Hernandez nabbed a 3-pointer. Halfway through the quarter, Mission took the lead for the first time 20-19. Loberg and Hernandez scored but Mission came back and retained the lead once again for a score of 32-29 to end the half.

Mission scored immediately in the third, but Plains came back with a Hernandez 3-pointer, then a Loberg hit to tie it at 34-34. With just over five minutes on the clock, Zayden Allen hit for two, followed by one of two free throws for a 37-34 Horsemen lead. Hernandez and Loberg both hit 3-pointers and with a minute and a half left Allen scored from under the basket for 45-38. With .3 seconds on the three quarter clock, Horseman Shawn O'Keefe got one of two from the foul line to end the quarter with a 49-42 Plains lead.

Loberg started things off in the fourth with two points and the Horsemen a 10-point lead. Dines and O'Keefe scored and with just under 30 seconds in the game West got one of two free throw points to end the game.

Hernandez and Loberg were the lead scorers with 18 apiece. West chalked up nine rebounds, followed by Loberg and Butcher with eight apiece. Hernandez had five assists followed by Allen with four assists.

"Our team maintained mental toughness through some tough foul calls and kept fighting," said Allen. "Pablo's offensive game and Anaya holding one of their best players to zero also helped immensely. We have had guys step up and play hard after losing our leader," he said, referring to Darren Standeford, who was injured during a game and out for the season.