Coming off of a loss against the Pocola Indians in which the Dogs almost pulled off a 16-point comeback, the Dogs would play their conference foe Paris in the 3rd place game. The Bulldogs had beaten the Eagles earlier in the season with a score of 55-45. In that game, the Dogs got off to a scorching hot start, and they were out to prove that it was not a fluke.
Both teams started off in their zone defenses. The Eagles with their first-year head coach have come to find an identity in their 1-3-1 defense, and the Dogs as usual stuck with their 2-3 defense. Camdon Holcomb got the scoring going for the Dogs with a layup to tie things up a two. The Eagles began to put pressure on the Dogs in their full-court press, but the Dogs were not fazed by it. Lidge Stinson and “Fish” McConnell alternated buckets to end the 1st quarter as both buried a 3-pointer and added a layup to put the Dogs up with a score of 14-10.
Stinson kicked off the 2nd quarter with a 3-pointer to put the Dogs up by seven. Paris stuck with their pressure, but they were not able to speed Waldron up any. The Dogs were playing fantastic defense. They were swarming to the ball and not allowing any open looks. Chris Lopez checked into the game for Waldron and instantly made a difference on the defensive end. He took two charges and added several steals. After a short scoring drought from both teams, Holcomb and Stinson were both able to get layups to fall to put the Dogs up by nine. The Holcomb and Stinson duo struck again before half as Stinson threw a dime to the big man and he was able to finish a layup to make the score 23-16 Dogs advantage headed into halftime.
McConnell lit up the Eagles from deep in their first matchup of the season, but they had contained him during the first half as he was only able to make one 3-pointer. Coming out of the half McConnell was determined to prove that he was still a threat. Holcomb got the 3rd quarter started with a nice post move finish, and on the following possession, McConnell began his barrage from deep. He nailed a 3-pointer to put the Dogs up by 10. The Eagles quickly scored 5 points and cut their deficit in half, but Ethan Mayberry ended their run as he got a nice floater to fall. Holcomb got another basket to fall off of a good inside move to push the Dogs lead back to seven. Then “Fish” McConnell took over. He went on a 9-3 run and single-handedly put the dogs up by 13. He converted an old-fashioned 3-point play before knocking down two 3-pointers that left the Eagles defense searching for answers. Trenton Hunt ended the 3rd quarter with a 3-pointer of his own to make the Dogs lead 44-33 going into the 4th quarter.
The Dogs cruised through the 4th quarter as Paris sent the Dogs to the free-throw line multiple times. Waldron made eight free throws in the quarter and seven of them came for Stinson. Those free throws propelled Stinson to score 11 points in the quarter as he was also able to make a pull-up jumper and convert a layup. Lopez was also able to get two layups to fall in the 4th . As the final buzzer sounded the Dogs were on top with a score of 62-51 to improve their record to 12-7.
The Waldron and Paris book is not closed yet as they still have another matchup on January 21. Although this game was not considered a conference matchup both teams learned a lot more about each other, and the ending of the trilogy is sure to be a good one.
Stinson led the scoring for the Dogs with 21 points and 6 rebounds. McConnell had 17 points and 9 rebounds, and Holcomb finished with 12 points.
Waldron’s next opponent will be the Cossatot River Eagles at the WAC on January 3rd. Junior High boys will begin action at 5:00 followed by Senior High girls and Senior High boys.
