Touchet Valley Rivals Meet Again

DAYTON - The big question in the Touchet Valley this weekend: Could the Bulldogs trip up the Cardinals' unbroken winning streak in round two of league match-ups?

Try as it might, Dayton was unable to take away either WP varsity team's undefeated status. Both Bulldogs teams succumbed to a stronger WP combine that has dominated the league since the start of the season.

In a closer game than their first encounter at Waitsburg, the Lady Bulldogs lost to the Lady Cardinals 58-37 on their home court. At 67- 60, the WP men's team had a slightly more comfortable margin than the two-point win they squeezed out on Kison Court earlier in the season.

But the skilled and scrappy Bulldogs kept the Cardinals on their toes in both match ups.

If they were considered the underdogs, the Dayton teams didn't show it in their games.

"They came out playing hard," Cardinals head coach Jerry Baker said about the Lady Bulldogs team coached by cross-valley counterpart Scott Hudson. "They're very fast. They were easily twice as good as they were when we played them earlier."

Dayton quickly built a first- quarter lead that reached 12-8 before Krystal Harris' layup from a midcourt steal evened the score 13-13, and Dionna Baker, who had one of her best games yet, gave the Cards a lead that continued for the rest of the game.

The Cardinals ended the quarter up 17-13 and expanded their lead to 32-22 at the end of the half.

McKayla Bickelhaupt, top scorer for the Bulldogs with 15 points, tried to set the tone for a possible Bulldogs comeback with a trey at the start of the second half. But the Bulldogs did not convert as many of their shots and faced a doubledigit deficit for most of the evening.

The teams seemed well matched on the court, each showing off their advantage. Dayton's shorter players had impressive speed that made for effective fast breaks, where WP's taller athletes beat the Bulldogs on many plays inside the key.

"We practice the fast breaks," Lady Bulldog Courtney Fuller said. "(During the game) we worked hard on defense, but the Cardinals' size means they beat us on offensive rebounds."

Their execution falling short, the Bulldogs trailed 43- 30 at the end of the third quarter, which saw a new Cardinal rising. While Harris and Megan Withers were the lead scorers during the first half, Baker was the Cardinals' undisputed star in the second half. This year's new varsity player scored an electric series of backto back field goals during the third, prompting the Waitsburg-Prescott crowd to rise to their feet for a standing ovation when she was switched for Genesis Pearson. Baker was the game's top scorer with 20, followed by Withers with 15 and Harris with 10.

Bulldogs scorers Bickelhaupt, Nikki Lambert and Shelby Smith could not keep up with the Cardinals' relentless onslaught and saw the points gap opening further in the fourth with a final score 58-37.

Facing a much better Bulldogs team, it took the Cardinals some time to find their rhythm, WP's Alyssa Hafen said. " We pulled through and finally started playing our game towards the end."

Hudson agreed that his team, 2-5 in the league and 3-11 overall, did much better against the mighty Cardinals than the first encounter with the WP team.

"We're a totally different team," he said, pointing out that the younger players have improved by leaps and bounds during the past four games, almost beating De- Sales in a recent encounter.

"They're believing that they can do it," Hudson said. "I'm proud of them."

The men's rematch was also a completely different game. Earlier this year, WP barely won against Dayton in a low-scoring nail biter 36-34. This time, both teams put nearly twice as many points on the board and although the Cardinals held a lead for most of the evening it could never pull back on the throttle, knowing what the Bulldogs are capable of.

"That was a tough game," WP head coach T.J. Scott said. "They (Dayton) are a very good team."

The teams started out evenly in the first quarter. Hayden Fullerton tied up the score with a trey, making it 6-6 only to see his big shot answered by a Zach Bartlow trey on the other coast. Bulldog Garret Turner came back with a third threepointer to make it 9-9.

WP ended the quarter up 17-12 despite a Dayton field goal just before the buzzer.

With four minutes to go in the first half, Turner evened the score at 21-21, but the Cardinals showed they just had a bit more grit to stay on top. Cardinal Matt Hamilton drilled his way under the basket, ran into opposition that knocked him off balance but still managed throw a shot up from where he was falling to make a basket. He scored a trey later in the quarter that ended 33-27 in WP's favor.

If Dionna Baker made her team's second half, Dustin Wooderchak helped give his team the edge in the men's second half with numerous field goals, field goals combined with fouls, and treys.

" Woody had the best game of his career," said Scott, who also praised Bartlow, Hamilton, T. J. Hofer and Kris Cady for their performances.

Turner, Fullerton and Kroft Sunderland excelled on Dayton's team, though not quite enough to stay ahead of their valley rivals.

The Bulldogs came within six points when 4:35 minutes remained on the clock in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals continued to push toward double-digit margins with Cady stealing the ball and laying it up after a fast break to make it 61-51.

Dayton continued to threaten, but despite a lastminute trey, they could not tie or better WP's score.

"You got to give the Cardinals credit," Bulldogs head coach Roy Ramirez said. "The teams were matches real evenly, but WP got the big third-quarter shots."

Ramirez said both teams were productive, making the most of their chances when they had them. But WP's ability to break through Dayton's defenses and dominate the rebounds helped give them an edge.

"They go after the board hard," Ramirez said about the Cardinals.

The Dayton coach praised his team as one of the best ones in the league whose 7-8 all-round record does not reflect its true strengths, seeing that the Bulldogs have lost some very close games. Dayton is 3-4 in the league.

WP vs Dayton

(Women)

WP 17 15 11 15 58

Dayton1398737

WP (58): Dionna Baker 20; Megan Withers 15; Krystal Harris 10;

Genesis Pearson 8; and Kristen Potter 3. Free throws: 13/24 for 54 percent

Dayton (37): McKayla Bickelhaupt 15; Nicole Lambert 9; Shelby

Smith 7; Jessica Tate 4 and Courtney Fuller 2. Free throws: 14/23 for 60

percent.

WP vs Dayton

(Men)

WP 17 16 18 16 67

Dayton 12 15 11 22 60

WP (67): Zach Bartlow 22; Dustin Wooderchak 15; Kris Cady 9; Matt

Hamilton 9; TJ Hofer 8; Guillermo Hernandez 4.

Dayton (60): Garett Turner 26; Kroft Sunderland 15; Hayden Fullerton 6; Colton Bickelhaupt 5; Joey Schlachter 3, Jason Norris 3 and

Dain Henderson 2.