The Waldron Bulldog basketball team will be returning quite a few seniors this season as opposed to last year considering Drew Dozier was the Sr High Bulldogs lone senior. “We have four returning starters from last year in Payton Brown, Jacob Avila, Mason Ford and Gada Wagner with Ruben Valdez also seeing starting time last season,” explains Head Coach, Joshua Brown. “We have some high expectations for this year with all the talent that we have coming back.”
“Senior, Payton Brown, can score at the basketball nearly every time and has even led the state in scoring the past two seasons. He can get it done at all three levels. Senior, Jacob Avila, has shown that he can hit shots and is one of our most fierce defenders. He is getting stronger at finishing around the basket as well. Junior, Gada Wagner, has drastically improved his shooting and shown that he can also finish around the basket.”
“Senior, Mason Ford, is a great athlete and is getting better at scoring around the basket. He has added some range to his shot and can help us extend some defenses. Senior, Ruben Valdez, can worm his way to the basket and when he gets going from the outside, he has the ability to hit some perfect shots. Junior, Isaac Villarreal, could play some guard and forward for us this year. He is a great athlete who will be seeing some major time on the hardwood.”
“Junior, Caden Fuller, can hit the outside shot and plays tremendous defense. He is a guy who could see his production go up this year for us. Junior, Jaden Hutchens, handles the ball well and shoots it impeccably from outside. He also has great footwork. We have two guys who didn’t play last year that returned in juniors, Bryson Bailey and Braden Williams, that will add to our depth. Camdon Holcomb is a 6’4″ sophomore post that could see some minutes if he continues to improve and could be a rim protector for us. Sam Slater and Jesse Dees return as juniors this year and continue to improve daily. And Matthew Tegtmeyer and Tyler Wright will be sophomores for the Bulldogs this year and look to bring some strong basketball skills to the court.”
“We have high expectations and our goal is to make it to the state tournament and win some games. We know we have to take it one day at a time. I believe this team has matured some and knows what it takes to be successful. If you ask our players, I believe they would tell you that their goal is to win conference and make a run in the post-season. This team has the potential to be very special. We just have to get better defensively each day.”
“I am very excited about this team and I know that our community is as well! We get kicked off tonight with our annual Orange/Black game and will then travel to De Queen on Tuesday, November 12 at 5 p.m. to open the season. Our Toy Toss game will be our home opener against Two Rivers on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m.”
