The visiting Pawnee Coyotes took a successful swipe at the Pine Bluffs Hornets Friday night, securing a 68-55 victory. On Saturday, the Hornets faced conference foe the Southeast Cyclones and tamed them to a breeze. The Hornets won on the home court 53-40.

“On Friday against Pawnee we really struggled to score in the early going,” Hornets’ head coach Pat Walter said. “We were getting decent looks at the basket but couldn’t get anything to fall. Our only score of the quarter came with about 1 minute left on the clock. After that we played much better.”

While the Hornets added 19 to their first half score, it didn’t make up for the lack of buckets in the game opener. At the half the score sat at 32-21, Coyotes.

What remained of the game was a tug-of-war.

“They would go on a run and push the lead to 15 or 16 then we might go on a run ourselves and get it down to a single digit lead,” said Walter. “Halfway through the fourth quarter they spread us out and tried to run the clock out. We were forced to foul them to stop the clock but they made their free throws down the stretch and pulled away from us. They were a good team who had players who played within themselves and their roles.”

JC Thurin turned in the high score for the Hornets with 17 buckets. Taylor Fornstrom was second with 10.

Walter said, “It was a relief to get out to a much better start offensively” in Saturdays game against the Cyclones.

“This was due in large part to some easy transition baskets created by forced turnovers,” Walter said. “We had a few lapses defensively in the first half that allowed them to get to within two but we scored twice in the final seconds of the half to build a lead at the break.”

After posting a 19-12 lead in the first canto, the Hornets added 14 to the Cyclones’ 15 to head to the locker room with a 33-27 Hornet lead.

“The tempo slowed down dramatically in the third quarter, probably due to both teams playing tough games the previous night,” Walter added. “Despite the change of pace, our players stayed mentally sharp and kept up the defensive pressure. In a role reversal from the previous night, we were the team in position to spread the floor and kill the clock. Our free throws in the fourth quarter were less than stellar but we had enough to extend the lead to a more comfortable margin. I was pleased with our effort and focus after such a tough game the night before.”

Harley Dalton sunk 13 to lead the Hornets and was followed on the leader board by Fornstrom and his dozen and Thurin’s 11 points.

The Hornets will be on the road this weekend with a contest in Morrill on Friday and in Burns on Saturday. The game against the Broncs is “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” day and everyone is asked to participate by wearing pink to the game.