The Waldron Bulldogs traveled to Booneville to take on the Bearcats on Tuesday, December 12. The Bulldogs were coming off their first conference loss to Charleston on the previous Friday and looking to bounce back. And bounce back is what they did! The Bulldogs used a great defensive effort and a solid offensive effort to come home with a 58-40 win.
Gada Wagner got the scoring going for the Bulldogs who used a drive to the basket and a steal and score to start to get the Bulldogs going and take the early 4-0 lead. Braden Williams would add a 2-pt basket to give the Dogs a 6-0 lead. CJ Johnson would hit a three for the Bearcats to cut the lead in half but would be the only FG made for the Bearcats in the quarter. The Bulldogs would use a 6-0 run to end the first quarter and lead 12-3 after the first frame.
Braden Williams would get the second quarter started with a score at the basket. Mason Goers hit a jumper inside the free-throw line to make the score 14-5 but Gada Wagner came right back down and got a finger-roll to go down and then a Braden Williams lay-up would extend the Bulldogs lead to 13. Austin Hill knocked down a 3 point basket for the Bearcats after a timeout to cut the lead to 10. The Bearcats and Bulldogs would trade baskets for the remainder of the quarter and the Bulldogs would take a 28-16 lead to the half.
The Bulldogs opened up the second half with a 9-0 run to extend their lead, 37-16. Austin Hill scored a basket for the Bearcats but an Isaac “The Real” Villarreal 3-pt basket on the following possession would help extend the Dogs lead. The 19-4 run would extend the Bulldogs lead to 47-20. The Bearcats would use a 5-0 run of their own to cut into the lead and end the 3rd quarter.
The Bulldogs then took a 49-25 lead into the fourth quarter. Bryson Bailey started the scoring in the 4th with two free throws. But Goers would answer right back for the Bearcats. Jayden McConnell hit a three-point basket and then a Camdon Holcomb put back would make the score 56-29. Ethan Mayberry added two for the Bulldogs to end their scoring. The Bearcats would end the game on a 10-0 run to make the final 58-40 Waldron.
The Bulldogs were able to shoot 61% from the field and hold Booneville to 34%. The Bulldogs used 16 Bearcat turnovers to turn in 19 points. Coach Brown stated, “I’m proud of the effort and intensity our guys had Tuesday night. Ready to get back to work.”
Box Score
Waldron 12 16 21 9 –58
Booneville 3 13 9 15 –40
Waldron– Isaac Villarreal (14), Braden Williams (12), Gada Wagner (9), Jaden Hutchens (6), Bryson Bailey (6), Caden Fuller (4), Jayden McConnell (3), Ethan Mayberry (2), Camdon Holcomb (2)–58
Booneville– Austin Hill (11), #3 (7), Jacob Herrera (6), CJ Johnson (6), Mason Goers (4), Blake Jones (2), Raiden Ferguson (2), #33 (2)–4
Photo courtesy of Sandy Tull
