Dawson Community College ended the first half of their schedule on a 3 game win streak with a 117-65 victory over Stone Child College. Similar to their past two wins, the Bucs started out hot and cruised to an easy win. Against Stone Child College on Friday afternoon, Dawson scored the first 12 points of the game and never looked back. Stone Child never got any closer. The hot start came on a basket by Devin Collins inside followed by a 3-pointer by Marcus Stephens and then an inside score from Jaron Masis. Stephens then connected on a couple of free throws before making another from long range. Stone Child answered with a couple of free throws, but the Bucs responded with a 3-pointer by Kolten Hitt and a driving lay-up by CJ Nelson. The lead stayed between 12-15 points for the next six minutes, but then Dawson made a 33-6 run to put the game away late in the first half. Stephens scored at the buzzer to give Dawson its biggest lead 64-23. They shot a sizzling 60% from the field and 46% from the 3-point line while holding the visitors to 26% shooting and forcing 11 turnovers. The biggest advantage of the opening half was a 36-10 rebounding difference in favor of the hosts. Kayden Hitt came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 13 points in only five minutes of play. CJ Nelson added 11 points and twelve different players got into the scoring column during the first twenty minutes.
Stone Child came out strong in the second half and outscored the Bucs by 12 points in the first five and a half minutes. Kendall Windyboy scored several times inside and Darnell Parisian and Kordell Small scored from the outside. Jerrod Four Colors made two straight three-pointers to bring Stone Child within 29 points at 72-43. That is the closest they would get. Reece Green scored on a fastbreak, Man Man Baker made a free throw and then Beau Santistevan and Kolten Hitt scored traditional three-point plays on consecutive possessions. Stone Child outrebounded the Bucs in the second half and forced nine turnovers, but they couldn’t overcome the hot start and 53% shooting for the game from Dawson. The bench for the Bucs outscored Stone Child 77-6. Dawson outrebounded them 57-33 for the game and had 18 second chance points compared to 9 for the visitors. The Bucs forced 32 turnovers, converting 39 points off of those turnovers.
Coach Peterson praised his young Bucs, “We got off to a good start because of our tough defense and dominating the boards. That helped us get going offensively. Kayden Hitt came off the bench and gave us a big lift in the first half. I thought we let down a little in the second half and let them get too many offensive rebounds. We’ve come a long way and I think we are going to keep getting better.”
Five players finished in double figures with twins Kolten and Kayden Hitt, along with Marcus Stephens, scored 17 points apiece to lead the Bucs. Cam'ron Dunfee and CJ Nelson both scored 11 points and Dunfee also grabbed 7 rebounds. Man Man Baker had an impressive all-around game with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
Stone Child College was led in scoring by Ben Iron Eyes with 20 points and Jerrod Four Colors with 14 points. Kendall Windy Boy also had a strong game with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The win evens their record at 7-7. The Bucs are off for a couple of weeks and will play their next game at home on January 4th.