Dropping their last five games, the Pine Bluffs Hornets basketball squad is still struggling to find their groove and string together a series of wins. On Friday, the Purple and Gold squared off against the Pawnee Coyotes, dropping the contest 40-55 and on Saturday the Hornets faced undefeated Southeast falling 31-46.

In Friday’s contest, the Hornets held a lead heading into the second half but the Coyotes used a 14-0 run in the third to bring the score even and eventually pull ahead.

"We struggled to keep pace in the third quarter,’ said head coach Pat Walter.

"Early in the game we did a fair job of getting baskets but it seemed like every time we were on the verge of going on a run they (Pawnee) would get a cheap basket to stay close," Walter added.

Walter said his squad tried to use a trap defense in the fourth to extend out the Coyote offense but the results were some wide open looks in close. But overall, Walter said turnovers was the key element in the Hornets defeat. On the night, the Hornets had 24 turnovers compared to Pawnee’s 11.

"We had more than twice as many turnovers as them and ours seemed to all come at critical times," said Walter adding, "We were beat by a team that was more sound fundamentally and played well as a team,"

Leading the scoring for the night was junior Blayne Gilbert with 15 points while Dalton Harley dropped in two three-pointers with Austin Lang on the hook for a downtown shot as well.

While the end result was the same, in Saturday’s match up with Southeast, Walter was much happier with his team’s performance.

"I was much more pleased with our effort and execution than the previous night," the head coach said.

"Southeast is a tough team that has yet to be defeated this year but our kids came out determined to play better than the night before," Walter said.

Southeast jumped out to an early lead but Walter said his team never felt knocked out of the game.

"Being outscored 20-8 in the second quarter put us behind by a large margin but it never felt like we were out of the contest," Walter said.

Ryan May was the Hornets’ top shooter netting the bucket for eight points and Nolan Jeffres nabbed the teams only three-point bucket on the night.

Looking to get back on the winning track, the Hornets face off next against Morrill on Friday with junior varsity taking to the court at 4 p.m. and varsity tipping off at 7 p.m. On Saturday it’s a short jaunt down I-80 to square off with the Burns Broncs, j.v. starts at 1 p.m. and varsity action gets underway at 4 p.m.