When 3A-1 basketball giants, the Waldron Bulldogs and the Charleston Tigers, stepped onto the court last Friday night, the energy in Waldron’s gym was off the hook. The Tigers were on top in conference play undefeated 10-0 while the Bulldogs sat one level under them 10-1. After an extreme fight to the finish, the Waldron Sr High Bulldogs proved to be high supremacy as they knocked the Tigers off their throne with a 70-62 win.
Charleston took their first loss in conference play sending them to 10-1 while Waldron upgrades to 11-1. Each “L” that these two powerhouse teams hold in conference play was given to one another by the other team. “It was a great win for our program,” says coach, Joshua Brown. “Charleston has a tradition of winning. They are a tough-nosed team and their guys play their roles very well. Going into the game we knew we had to slow down offensively and play a lot better defensively.”
“We knew we had to overcome runs and I thought our kids answered every run Charleston went on. I think the last time we played we got a little panicked and we didn’t do that in this game. I thought overall our guys played extremely hard and we hit some big baskets when we had to have them. I was very proud of our effort from every guy on our team, whether they were on the floor or on the sideline, they were locked in all night!”
Leading the Bulldogs to a successful takeover was Payton Brown with 30 points, seven assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Braden Williams with 14 points, three rebounds, and one assist. Jacob Avila with nine points, one block, one steal, five assists, and three rebounds. Gada Wagner with seven points, two assists, one steal, and two rebounds. Isaac “The Real” Villarreal with seven points and four rebounds. And Mason Ford with three points, two steals, three rebounds, and one assist.
The Bulldogs now sit 22-4 in total season play and hold 1794 points on the year. “I thought our students, band, cheerleaders, and community as a whole showed up and gave us a boost! It was a great HS atmosphere for both sides. Moving forward we are just taking it one game at a time. We talk about enjoying the win for the night and then come ready to go to work the next day. We will now shift our focus to Elkins and prepare for that battle.” Waldron will face the (10-2) Elks in Elkins on Tuesday, February 11. Elkins is 22-3 on the season so this will be another hardcore face-off for the Bulldogs. In their first conference game against each other, Waldron earned the win 62-54.
