YODER – The Southeast High School boys’ basketball team split its weekends games with Saratoga and Big Horn.

The Cyclones opened the weekend with a 58-47 loss to the Class 1A No. 1-ranked Saratoga Panthers.

Southeast spotted the visitors a 9-0 lead behind three consecutive 3-pointers to open the game, but the Cyclones battled back.

Southeast triples by senior Bodie Herring and junior Cord Herring propelled the Cyclones to a 13-13 tie after the first eight minutes of play.

“We still played pretty good defense. I don’t care what people say,” Cyclone coach Crockett Herring said. “We need to get our offense going. Instead of grinding one out, we need to blow one out.”

The Cyclones took a brief 15-13 lead early in the second quarter, but the Panthers outscored Southeast 20-2 over the remaining six and a half minutes of the first half.

“It’s becoming a problem here lately. We have a cold snap, and it kills us,” Herring said. “All we can do is keep practicing and keep getting better.”

Coming out of the locker room, Bodie Herring found his stroke again with a trio of 3-pointers. Senior Sawyer Anderson added one of his own with 3:07 left in the frame, cutting the Saratoga lead to 35-29.

“When one person gets a couple shots to go in, it seems like it’s contagious for us,” Herring said.

That proved to be as close as Southeast came to seeing the lead for the remainder of the game.

“Hats off to them. They drove three and half hours and beat us twice – once in Lingle and once here,” Herring said. “We won’t have to worry about them until later if we can get that far.”

Bodie Herring led the Cyclones with a double-double, including 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Cord Herring added 11 points. Anderson tossed in seven, while seniors Durward Randall and Hayden Anderson had six apiece.

On Saturday, Southeast edged Class 2A Big Horn in a rematch of last season’s 2A East Regional Championship game and the third-place contest at the 2A State Basketball Championships.

“They have a lot of people off that team that we couldn’t beat twice,” Herring said. “I’m sure they’ll be ready to play. I sure hope we are. I’m sure they’ll be physical and be a good basketball team.”

This year, the Cyclones got the best of Big Horn, 59-56.

Trailing 29-24 at halftime, Southeast exploded for 21 points in the third quarter while limited the Rams to nine points.

In the fourth quarter, Big Horn cut into Cyclone lead, but Southeast fended off the comeback attempt to hold on for the win.

Bodie Herring led all scorers with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Sawyer Anderson added 12 and Hayden Anderson 11 points and 14 rebounds.

The Cyclones (3-4) return to action Thursday at 7 p.m. in Lingle against the Doggers (2-4).