Dogs, Cards Split District Crown

WALLA WALLA -- The last time the Dayton boys basketball team won the district title, most of the current Bulldog globetrotters were still in diapers.

The year was 1995.

The 2012 team that beat the WP Cardinals by one point Monday night, 57-56, at Whitman College began to form almost that long ago when sports dads Dean Bickelhaupt, Greg Fullerton and Jeff Turner started dribbling with their sons Colton, Hayden and Garett in kindergarten. The likes of Kroft Sunderland, Joey Schlachter and Wyatt Frame joined them in later years.

All those seasons of playing together and being connected almost at a subconscious, muscle-memory level, finally paid off in a big way.

"I'm happy for them," said head coach Roy Ramirez, who began coaching the small hoop gang in fourth grade. "Later, I'll sit down and think about what it all means, but right now it's about those boys."

WP head coach T.J. Scott, whose team came within a hair's breadth of denying the Bulldogs the Number One victory they've been craving since childhood, also had admiration for the 2012 dawgs.

"Give Dayton all the credit in the world," he said. "They have a heck of a ball team and they earned it."

The Bulldogs will face Riverside Christian at Walla Walla High School at 8 p.m. on Friday. The Cardinals play Lake Roosevelt at 6 p.m.

The WP girls team, meanwhile, repeated their feat of last year and won the district crown at Whitman after beating the Lady Dogs, 45-33.

"After our victory over DeSales, we had a lot of confidence coming in," WP Cardinal Krystal Harris said.

Members of the Dayton girls team said they were disappointed with the loss, but took pride in taking second place in districts, an accomplishment few would have predicted at the start of the season.

"I feel proud we made it this far," freshman Sarah Phillips said. "A lot of people thought we could make it."

The Lady Bulldogs face Brewster at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Wa Hi, while the Cardinals meet Riverside Christian at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Games

Dayton Boys Play Riverside Christian At 8 p.m., Friday, At Wa-Hi

WP Boys Play Lake Roosevelt At 6 p.m., Friday At Wa-Hi

Dayton Girls Play Brewster At 4 p.m., On Saturday at Wa-Hi

WP Girls Play Riverside Christian At 6 p.m. On Saturday At Wa-Hi