Dayton Hits Court Running

DAYTON - The pads and helmets have been packed away and the Dayton Bulldogs have hit the court running. Coming off a second-place district finish in 2010 season the "Dawgs" are looking to bring some heat to the Blue Mountain league.

Head coach Roy Ramirez returns all of his varsity squad except for Daine Henderson and Jason Norris who graduated. Seventeen Bulldogs have turned out for this season, which means that the younger crew will get plenty of playing time and experience.

Six seniors will lead the younger bunch on the run for a district title starting with point guards Garret Turner and Colton Bickelhaupt.

"Bickelhaupt is a good ball handler," said coach Ramirez. "He's improved his outside shooting over the summer, which only makes him more of a threat."

Down low the Dogs return Joey Schlachter.

"Joey is a good jumper and has good size," said Ramirez. "He'll rebound well for us."

Alongside Schlachter is brick house Kroft Sunderland. A dominating force on the football field, his size and aggressiveness will be a tremendous bonus for the team.

Rounding out the balance of the court is Jacob McCleary and football standout Hayden Fullerton.

"McCleary had a good summer and will be a good shooter from the perimeter," said coach Ramirez.

Fullerton's speed, Bickelhaupt's ball handling and Kroft's and Schlacter's size will definitely create a force to be reckoned with on the court.

"It's nice when you can return the majority of your core team from the previous year," said Ramirez.

The Dogs will have to face teams like DeSales, Asotin, and district champs Waitsburg-Prescott on the road to the big show.

" DeSales has improved this last year," said Ramirez. "They took us to the wire last year here at home and then we turned around and beat them there so they should be a tough matchup for us."

"Asotin is always ready to play," said Ramirez. "They had a really strong junior varsity squad last year, so I don't think that they'll drop off much."

" WP is pretty solid and always tough," said Ramirez. "TJ Scoot does a good job and they are returning good athletes."

All in all, Ramirez feels that though the league has some tough teams, there is a good balance of talent between the teams. And just like any sport, anything can happen on any given night.

"There are a lot of good coaches in the league," said Ramirez.

"We are just going to have to play good ball. All the boys can shoot the ball well and we'll have the ability to run the floor when needed."

The Bulldogs began their season last Tuesday night against Tekoa-Oaksdale and will travel to Pomeroy on Friday night for a 7:30 p.m. tip off against the Pirates.