Younger Dogs Show How It’s Done

DAYTON - At one point during the men's alumni game, two Bickelhaupts were ganging up on a third. That kind of family ribbing is possible when two teams draws from two generations of Bickelhaupt basketball players.

Tuesday's night second annual men's Bulldogs alumni game reached even farther back in time than the women's alumni game with Dean Bickelhaupt (1977) playing beside his older son Garett (2009) against the younger, current Bulldog Colton (2012).

The two older Bickelhaupts found themselves quickly outpaced, as did their teammates, who collectively went down against the undefeated hot Dogs, 59-45.

"Colton - he's just so fast," Dean Bickelhaupt said, his smile into a self-satisfied smirk. "He reminds me of me when I was that age."

Whether it was age or simply superior skills or both, it is open to debate. But the 2011 dogs did what they have done all season -- opened a scoring chasm and let their opponent tumble down in it never to recover.

"I thought we played pretty good," Bickelhaupt said. "But we missed some easy shots and those high school kids are so fast - once they had a break (from plenty of steals), we couldn't keep up with them."

With the odds favoring his last name, it was Colton Bickelhaupt scoring the first points of the game and the alumni had trouble with their pace from the beginning. The quarter ended, 15-11.

The alumni regular l y pierced through the younger dogs' defenses, but bad shooting and bad luck plagued the older Dogs with one ball circling the drain twice before spinning back out. The veterans came within 4, but lost the second quarter, 25-17.

The alumni opened the scoring in the second half. With steals and a free throw, the older guys brought the margin within three points, 27-24. It was the closest they would get for the remainder of the game. The third quarter ended with the younger Dogs up, 41-26.

A rally led by Sam Howard in the fourth gave some hope the veteran DHS players might come from behind, but 2011 team led by scoring machine Hayden Fullerton quickly put an end to those dreams. The bucks won it, 59-41.

"It's always more fun to win," said alumni coach Terry Nealey, whose 2010 alumni crew beat the younger Dogs by four points. "The high school team has improved a lot. They have an inside and an outside game and that's very valuable in basketball. They broke things open in the third quarter and we couldn't quite get back into it."

The 2011 alumni team included Gabby Rosales (2009), Dean Bickelhaupt ( 1977), Sam Howard (2004), Garett Bickelhaupt (2009), Tom Howard (1998), Dain Henderson (2011), Jacob Kleck (2009), Joe Howard (1998), Tyler Cooper (2006), Eric Fulbright (2008), Clay Hutchens (1997), Andrew Mascall (2009), Craig Lockard (2006), Mike Gembala (1996) and Jason Norris (2011).

Dayton vs. DHS Alumni 59-45

Day 15 10 16 18 - 59

Alum11 6 919-45

Hayden Fullerton 25

Garett Turner 13

Joey Schlachter 10

Kroft Sunderland 7

Clay Hutchens 16

Tom Howard 6

Sam Howard 6