The Orange and Black nation traveled to Mansfield for a great Tiger hunt on Friday, December 20th. With many games on the Bulldogs schedule, this was one that had been circled since day one. Now that the time had come, the call from the Waldron fans was “RELEASE THE HOUNDS”.
The tip-off was more of a battle cry for the teams as both the Bulldogs and Tigers began their push for supremacy in the game. Waldron kept a slight lead on Mansfield for most of the first half, but neither team was going to pull away early in this one. Waldron’s defense kept the Tigers trapped as they obtained 15 steals in the game, most of those coming in the first half of play. The steals gave the Bulldogs the edge, but they couldn’t push off those pesky Tigers…….not yet that is.
Going into the half, the Waldron Bulldogs were up 40-34 on Mansfield. This was truly a battle. Waldron was not spooked or intimidated by the closeness of the game at that point though. This type of game is what they live for. With a little chat from Coach Joshua Brown and some rest, the Bulldogs howled out into the second half without any leashes attached.
The 3rd quarter was just as the first half with both teams going tooth and nail with each other. It was a spectacular show for all of either side of the court to see. At the end of the third though, the gap in the score was the same with the Bulldogs holding a six-point lead. That’s when Waldron was done toying with the Tigers.
Waldron opened up on Mansfield in the 4th quarter sinking 31 points on the Tigers. With sweet moves and swishing shots, the Bulldogs made sure there was no coming back for Mansfield in the game as the “Battle for Scott County” ended with an 86-65 final in the Bulldogs favor. The highlighted player in this game was Payton Brown who broke a Waldron basketball school record by knocking out 60 total points in a game. The former record was 58 points which was made in 1993 by none other than Payton’s dad, Jason Brown.
Brown may have stolen the show, but no one man can do it all. The Bulldogs emptied the benches to put points on the board as six other players lit up the scoreboard. Isaac Villarreal came up with 12 points while Ruben Valdez and Caden Fuller racked up four points each. Mason Ford, Jacob Avila, and Gada Wagner tacked on two points each in the game. Waldron now sits 9-3 on their season and 2-0 in conference. The Bulldogs will go to battle next in the Bill Frye Classic on Friday, December 27 at 4:30 p.m. against Hackett.
