The Team That Can

DAYTON - The Lady Bulldogs may have lost against Liberty Christian Saturday, but they now know they can win games because they did so twice in a row: against WWVA 41-37 on Thursday and against Lacrosse Washtucna during the holiday tournament.

"I know we can play with any of them," head coach Scott Hudson said after Thursday's game against the Knights. "It wasn't pretty, but it was a win."

For the men, the picture is different. They're a skilled team, know how to stay in the game despite some shooting challenges, but don't seem to come out on top as much this season. They've lost several games by a very small margin, including Saturday's 55-53 loss against the LC Patriots. They did win against WWVA the Thursday before.

"Losing by just two points shows determination on the part of the guys," head coach Roy Ramirez said. "Shooting at 27 percent you would expect to get beat by more points. It's been the story of our season so far."

The Lady Bul ldogs showed their character against the WWVA Knights Thursday. The teams were fairly evenly matched from the start, ending the first quarter with Dayton trailing by 1 at 7-6. The half ended in an 18-18 tie.

"They outhustled us in the first half," Hudson said.

The Knights outscored the Bulldogs 9-6 in the third quarter, bringing them ahead 27-24, but showed fatigue in the final period just as the Bulldogs reached deep into the tank and applied fullcourt pressure on WWVA to gain the upper hand.

The Bulldogs pulled ahead 31- 29. Courtney Mings was fouled but missed her two free-throw shots, a skill Hudson's team has been struggling with. But McKayla Bickelhaupt laid it up in the basket for a two-pointer to put the Bulldogs further ahead 35-31.

Veteran player Nikki Lambert proceeded to push the score even higher, with another two-pointer, turned right around to steal the ball and repeat the dunk to make it 39-34 as the Knights tried to keep their momentum.

Finally, Courtney Fuller, an energetic and scrappy starter for the Lady Bulldogs, managed to make it 41-34. The Knights were able to shave off Dayton's lead by three more points, but it wasn't enough to reverse their fortune against the harder-working Bulldogs.

"This win shows a lot of character," Hudson said. "We had a lot left in the tank in the fourth quarter, and that comes from the conditioning we're doing in practice."

Hudson said the girls realize "this can be done" and that "they have the talent." The holiday game against Lacrosse-Washtucna was the first time the whole team was healthy and playing again.

With nine games left, hope remains for more wins this season, particularly if the Lady Bulldogs sustain the spirit of the wins before the Liberty Christian game.

Against LC, the Dayton ladies struggled. The girls shot two out of 14 in the first quarter, for 14 percent.

"We had too many unforced turnovers," Hudson said of Saturday's game. "Defensively we did not make correct rotations and allowed easy shots by LC."

The girls played with more energy in the second half, but turnovers remained a problem.

"We need to come out stronger, ready to play, take care of the ball and stop the unforced turnovers," Hudson said.

The men's team began the weekend strong as well, with a 58-49 win against WWVA on Thursday. Dayton barely stayed ahead at first, facing several Knights' treys but finally dishing out some of that medicine to WWVA.

Hayden Fullerton scored a trey that put his team ahead 26-23 at the end of the half. The Bulldogs extended their lead in the second half with tenacious rebounds, outscoring the Knights 15-12 in the third and 17-14 in the fourth.

The Bulldogs fell flat on Saturday against Liberty Christian 55-53.

The Patriots outscored Dayton by just two points in the first quarter 17-15, tied them in the second period, than put almost twice as many points on the board in the third, 16-7, before the Bulldogs rallied 22-13 in the final quarter. They fell two points short of putting the game into overtime.

"In the third quarter, we just couldn't get the ball to fall," Ramirez said. "When you come right down to it, that's what got us."

Dayton played Tekoa- Oakesdale in an away game on Tuesday, but the results could not be obtained before deadline. They play DeSales at home on Saturday.

Lady Bulldogs

Dayton vs. Walla Walla Valley Academy (Jan. 6)

41-37

Dayton 6 12 6 17 41

WWVA 7 11 9 10 37

Dayton (41): Jessica Tate 13, Nicole Lambert 12,

Samura Miller 4, Courtney Fuller 4, McKayla Bickelhaupt

2, Courtney Mings 2, Darci Hall 2, Malia Frame 2. Free

Throws: 48 %

Dayton vs. Liberty Christian (Jan. 8)

46-73

Dayton49191446

LC 13 15 29 16 73

Dayton (46): Nicole Lambert 12, McKayla Bickelhaupt

9, Malia Frame 9, Courtney Mings 8, Courtney Fuller 4,

Darci Hall 2, Samura Miller 2. Free Throws: 43.8 %

Bulldogs Men

Dayton vs. Walla Walla Valley Academy (Jan. 6)

58-49

Dayton 11 15 15 17 58

WWVA 7 16 12 14 49

Dayton (58): Jason Norris 6, Joey Schlachter 7, Hayden

Fullerton 12, Garett Turner 20, Kroft Sunderland 13.

Dayton vs. Liberty Christian (Jan. 8)

53-55

Dayton15972253

LC 17 9 16 13 55

Dayton (53): Wyatt Frame 2, Jason Norris 3, Colton

Bickelhaupt 5, Joey Schlachter 4, Dain Henderson 2,

Hayden Fullerton 7, Garett Turner 20, Kroft Sunderland

10.