Longhorns are regional champions

Dover’s trademark swarming defense has the Longhorns within one win of another trip to the state tournament.

The Longhorns held Cimarron to one field goal in the first half and turned it into a 55-28 victory in their Class B-II regional championship clash in Dover.

That puts the Longhorns in Friday’s area championship game against No. 13 Eagletown in Henryetta. Eagletown is 20-3 and beat Smithville 67-47 in their regional final.

Dover is ranked No. 1 in the class and looked the part, especially on the defensive end in their second win of the season over the No. 19 Blazers.

Ethan Butler made a 3-pointer in the first quarter, but that was the only field goal of the half for the visitors.

Dover found itself up 14-4 after a quarter and 24-6 at the break.

A.J. Avila scored 9 to lead Dover in the first half and Daxx Compton scored 7.

Casen Buck and Brennan Fletcher picked up the scoring load in the second half.

Buck notched 11 points and Fletcher scored all 8 of his for the night as the Longhorns continued to build on their lead.

Cimarron’s offense improved in the second half, but the Blazers only had 13 points going into the fourth. They scored more than half their points in the final frame after the game had been decided.

They were limited to 19 percent shooting and had 19 turnovers.

Dover also out-rebounded the Blazers 37-26. The Longhorns had 16 offensive rebounds and 16 second- chance points.

Buck paced Dover with 15 points.

Avila scored 13 and led the team with 8 rebounds.

Compton finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.

The Longhorns enter the area championship with a 26-2 record. They are seeking their second consecutive trip to the state tournament after breaking a 32-year drought a season ago.

Two of Eagletown’s losses are to No. 6 Battiest, which was upset by Smithville in a regional semifinal last Tuesday. The Eagles are 0-3 against teams ranked in the top 10 this season.