If You Cant Stand The Heat, Get Off The Bulldogs Court

By Megan Hecox
Don’t stand too close or you might get burned because these Dogs are on FIYA! The (8-2) Bulldogs boys team absolutely killed in Friday nights game against the Dardanelle Sand Lizards. Winning by 4 points 53-49, the Bulldogs started the game out slow in the first half but come the second half, they picked it up big time offensively.
The first half was low scoring with the Bulldogs enduring some foul trouble causing Head Coach, Joshua Brown, to sit some guys early. “Payton Brown had 3 fouls in the first 4 minutes of play. Jacob Avila, Drew Dozier, and Mason Ford all had 2 fouls in the first half,” says Coach Brown. When the second half of the game rolled around, the Bulldogs were warmed up and ready for a ball game. During the last two quarters, Payton Brown scored 24 points for the Dogs. “Defensively we did a great job all night and that’s what helped us win the game,” said Coach Brown.
Ruben Valdez brought in 11 points for the Bulldogs and Drew Dozier made 9 points. Jacob Avila put up 6 points and Mason Ford and Gada Wagner made a combined 3 points for the Dogs. The entire team got some great minutes on the floor as well. At one point during the game, Coach Brown was going to put his Junior starter, Jacob Avila back in but Jacob turned to his coach and said, “No, its ok. They are playing really well.” To see a player be so selfless by putting others above himself was a proud moment for Coach Brown.
Coach Brown expresses his thoughts on the game. “It was a great atmosphere last night for our guys. We had a great turnout and the Dardanelle fans traveled well also. Dardanelle is a very solid team and very well coached. Coach Sturdivant does a great job. They are very sound offensively in their motion. They set a lot of screens and like to go inside to their big man. Defensively they are very good and that is why we had trouble scoring. That was a good win for our guys.”
The Bulldogs also put on a Toy Toss and Chili Supper Fundraiser. The Junior class was able to sell a ton of chili and the fried Oreos were a big hit. The money from the supper is going to help the Juniors with Prom expenses. The Toy Toss was a hit as well. The Bulldogs have a lot of stuffed animals that they will be able to hand out to children in need and for that, they will be forever grateful to their fans.
The Bulldogs will have their first conference game in West Fork on Tuesday, December 11th at 4 pm.