During the summer Waldron hired a new head Junior high boys coach in Zak Terwilliger. Coach Terwilliger, also known as Coach Twigs, graduated from Mena High School in 2016 and received his bachelor’s degree from Henderson State in 2020. Coach Twigs was eager to get on the hardwood and show his new Waldron community what his team was all about.

The Junior Bulldogs opened their season against the Caddo Hills Indians. The starting lineup for the dogs consisted of Keegan Lynch, Caden Hunt, Cole Bailey, Roky Avila, and Aiden Allen. The Dogs easily outmatched the Indians and won convincingly with the final score of 42-18. Freshman Keegan Lynch forced multiple turnovers which led to easy transition layups. Their next opponent, the Fountain Lake Cobras, put up more of a fight. Waldron was able to squeak by with a 1-point win of 34-33. The twin tower interior duo of Roky Avila and Aden Allen blocked a lot of shots around the rim and gobbled up every rebound.

Coming off back-to-back wins the Bulldogs would travel to Mansfield to face the Tigers. Coach Twigs said that in this game, “We could not buy a bucket.” The Tigers, on the other hand, were hot from the three-point line. Even through the poor shooting night, Waldron was still able to make a game out of it with the final outcome being 34-29 in favor of the Tigers.

The following evening the Bulldogs would travel to Ozark to compete in the PBJI tournament against the Pottsville Apaches. Pottsville had an exceptionally good team, but the Dogs still managed to compete and make the game competitive until the 4th quarter. With it being the third night in the row the Dogs had played, they just simply ran out of gas. The final score did not show how close the game was.

Coach Twigs had this to say following his first week of being the Junior High coach and his team’s 2-2 start. “Overall I am excited for them, I think the team and I learned what we do well and what we need to improve on. They play really hard and are falling in love with the game which is important in building a team to win games.” 

The Bulldogs next Junior High matchup will be against the Magazine Rattlers on November 16th in the WAC. Junior girls will kick off the action at 4:30 followed by Junior boys, Senior girls, and Senior boys.

The fifth and sixth-grade little league Tiger teams concluded their season with a win over the Mountainburg Dragons, 21-0, earning them the championship title.

The Tigers finished their season undefeated, and the sixth-grade team concluded their little league careers with four championships and only one loss in four seasons.

Congratulations to these players, and their coaches, Steven Moore and David Moore.

Following a 4-20 season last year, the Lady Dogs were excited to get to take the court again to prove that they had been working hard all off-season to improve.

The Bulldogs graduated a lot of seniors from last year’s team but gained a lot of sophomores that will play a key role in the team’s success this year. Tracie Adams will be at the helm of the Sr girls this year as she moved up from her Junior high position.

To begin the season, the Dogs faced off against the Indians of Caddo Hills who had already played 7 games. The Bulldogs started Senior Hailey Stidman, Senior Molly Richmond, Senior Bianca Hinojosa, Sophomore Reagan Adams, and Sophomore Daileigh Hunt.

The Dogs performed well in the season opener, especially against a team coming in that was 6-1. They forced the Indians into a bunch of turnovers and were able to capitalize in transition. The Indians went home with the second loss of the season with the final score being 39-36.

The Dogs then would play back-to-back nights against the Fountain Lake Cobras and the Mansfield Tigers. The Cobras full-court pressed the Dogs all night long and caused lots of turnovers, but the Dogs hung in there and played hard. The Dogs got within one point after Bianca Hinojosa splashed a 3 pointer, but after Adams and Hunt fouled out the Dogs just could not pull it out. The final score was 35-40 in the Cobras favor. Hinojosa led the scoring for the dogs with 12 points and Hailey Stidman added 9. The Dogs would travel to Mansfield the following night to play in energy-filled Tiger Stadium.

The toll of the previous night’s game played a factor as the Dogs looked exhausted from the tip. There were some bright spots though for Senior Hailey Stidman as she was able to score 12 points. Waldron would fall to the Tigers as the final score was 25-47.

Coach Tracie Adams had this to say about the Dogs 1-2 start to the season. “I have been really excited and pleased with our defense. This team is a 32 min never-give-up bunch of girls. We may not be the most talented on the floor but you won’t outwork us. Offensively we are still working out the kinks and learning to read each other. Being able to finish on simple shots is the key. These girls have come together and become a team; they understand the team is bigger than any one individual.”

The Senior High Girls will take on the Ozark Hillbillies on Monday, November 15 at the WAC. JV girls will begin to play at 5:00 followed by JV boys and then Sr girls followed by Sr boys

The games between Waldron and Mansfield are always full of rivalry and energy, but this year’s matchup meant just a little bit more. With Mansfield hiring Josh Brown, Waldron’s previous coach, Waldron fans were chomping at the bit to get to watch their team perform against their former coach. They packed Tiger Stadium and were loud from the opening tip until the final buzzer.

The Tigers began the game with a quick 7-0 run, and some early drama caused Waldron’s key player, Trenton Hunt, to sit for the rest of the half. The Dogs responded quickly though as Ethan Mayberry nailed a three-pointer and “Fish” Mcconnell drove to the bucket for a lay-in. Mansfield was hot from the three-point line in the first quarter as they hastily expanded their lead to 7-16, but the Bulldogs were able to pull it together as Lidge Stinson added back-to-back layups to stop the bleeding. Payton Justice managed to steal the ball and force a fast break which led to a “Fish” Mcconnell bucket to make the score 14-19, Tiger advantage, to end the quarter.

Mansfield started the second quarter still hot from three, which forced the Dogs to switch to a zone defense. The switch threw the Tigers off balance as they began to cool off from behind the arc. Kason Moudy came in for the Dogs and quickly added a layup making the score 21-30. Then the dogs began pounding the ball inside which caused the Tigers to get into foul trouble. This would lead to a 10-0 run by the Dogs as “Fish” Mcconnell put in two layups followed by a Camdon Holcomb and one to pull the dogs within two. As time was ticking down, Ethan Mayberry buried a three-pointer to give Waldron their first lead of the game and sent the Dogs into halftime up 31-30.

Waldron was not happy with the way its defense played in the first half, and you could tell it was an emphasis by Coach Atchley at halftime that he wanted his team to put more pressure on the ball handler. Starting the 3rd quarter, they did just that. The Dogs stuck to their zone defense and got extended which forced the Tigers to turn the ball over. Both teams were sluggish coming out of the break on offense, but the Dogs finally got it going as Lidge Stinson and Chris Lopez were able to add a layup each. Waldron played phenomenal defense the whole quarter as they only allowed 5 points. Drew Owens took a fantastic charge, and Camdon Holcomb blocked a shot which made the crowd erupt. As the 3rd quarter ended Waldron was in the lead 41-35.

The atmosphere in Tiger Stadium when the 4th quarter started was unreal. Both student sections were going at it as everyone was on their feet cheering and chanting for their team. The energy in the building was like none other. Waldron began the quarter full of energy on the defensive end as they forced a turnover which led to a put-back layup by Camdon Holcomb to expand to lead to 43-35. The Dogs began to full-court press the Tigers and gave up some easy buckets, but in the fast-paced action of the full-court press, Trenton Hunt was able to add two quick transition layups to make the score 50-42. Waldron then began to be patient on offense to wind down the clock as much as possible. This forced Mansfield to have to foul, and after poor free-throw shooting by the Dogs, the Tigers pulled within four. This proved to be too little too late though as the Bulldogs were able to run down the clock and travel home on Highway 71 with a 52-49 Win.

Camdon Holcomb and “Fish” Mcconnell each had a double double as Holcomb had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Mcconnell had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Stinson and Mayberry both had 6 points and Hunt and Owens both added 4.

Waldron will take on the Ozark Hillbillies on Monday, November 15 at the WAC. JV girls will begin to play at 5:00 followed by JV boys and then Sr girls followed by Sr boys.