In their second conference matchup up of the season, the Bulldogs would travel to Danville to face the Little Johns. Coming off an impressive win against the Paris Eagles last week, the Dogs looked to keep their slate clean in conference play. After barely getting past Danville last year, the Dogs came out ready to prove that they were not going to take any opponent lightly.
Waldron started their usual starting five which includes: Lidge Stinson, Ethan Mayberry, Trenton Hunt, “Fish” McConnell, and Camdon Holcomb. The Dogs got after it from the opening tip as they quickly went on a 6-0 with layups from McConnell, Hunt, and Stinson. Coach Atchley had the Dogs running a pick and roll which they ran to perfection. The Dogs were also fired up on the defensive side of the ball too as they were causing turnover after turnover in their zone defense. The Danville defense could not stay in front of the Dogs as they got into the lane with ease. Holcomb was able to add a lay-up off an offensive rebound to push the Dogs lead to 11-4. Wanting to keep his players fresh, Atchley substituted in a whole new group onto the court. This group consisted of Chris Lopez, Payton Justice, Peyton Lipham, Drew Owens, and Kason Moudy. This group applied a full-court press and ended the 1st quarter with a 13-4 lead.
The new group started the 2nd quarter and resumed their full-court pressure. After a layup from Lipham, the starting five checked by into the game. The Dogs were scorching hot from behind the arc as they were able to make four 3-pointers with two coming from McConnell, one from Stinson, and the other from Hunt. Danville had no answer for the Bulldogs in the 2nd quarter as they went on a 20-2 run to end the half. The Dog’s defense did not allow any open looks, and they were forcing a lot of turnovers. Holcomb added three layups in the quarter to put the Dogs lead at 35-10 heading into the half.
Coming out of the half, the Dogs had cooled down from the field. They began to play man-to-man defense and began to allow some easy baskets for the Little Johns. This prompted Coach Atchley to bring the other group into the game. The new group was slow offensively too as the Dogs only scored 9 points in the 3rd. After a charge taken by Lopez, the Dogs ran a beautiful play that ended with a Lipham layup to make the score 42-18. To end the quarter Forrest Efurd got a layup to fall which made the score 44-23.
To start the 4th quarter the starting 5 checked back into the game. The Dogs were in cruise control as they had a lead of 20. Mayberry made a 3-point shot which made the score 50-25. After a lay-up by Holcomb, the Dogs checked 5 new players into the game which included: Jacob Daggs, Jaylen Matthews, Kason Davis, Steven Newman, and Tyler Wright. Wright got a layup to fall as the final buzzer sounded to end the game with the Dogs on top with a score of 57-37. The Dogs improved their record to 10-4 and 2-0 in conference play.
Camdon Holcomb was the leading scorer for the Dogs with 13 points and 7 rebounds. “Fish” McConnell added 12 points and 7 rebounds. Other scores included: Stinson with 11, Hunt with 7, and Lipham with 6.
The Dogs will travel to Cedarville on Thursday, December 16th to take on the Pirates. Junior High girls will begin the action at 5:00 followed by Junior High boys, Senior High girls, and Senior High Boys.
