Cardinals’ Hot Hands Too Much For Dogs

WALLA WALLA -- With a bit more than half a period left in the fourth quarter, the Lady Bulldogs came within six points of the lead in their game against the WP Cardinals.

Then the margin grew again and The Dogs' hopes of un-seating the defending district title holders evaporated.

The 2012 Cardinals defeated the Bulldogs, 45-33, in a feisty give-and-take, which the Waitsburg-Prescott team dominated for most of the evening. After all was said and done, the Cardinals remained as the top team of the district, but the second-place finishers' coach spoke highly of the Lady Dogs team that emerged from the dog house after the winter holiday tournament.

"To still be playing this time of year is pretty special," Dayton head coach Clayton Strong said after the game. "It hurts to lose to rivals, but you have to give the (Cardinals) credit."

Strong said the speed of WP's Kristin Potter and Krystal Harris, plus the Dogs' own failures to block and take advantage of second chances, gave the Cardinals the edge in the title game.

WP head coach Jerry Baker said his team's victory came despite the players' poor shooting from the field. Neither team seemed to be able to score from more than a few feet away until McKayla Bickelhaupt scored two treys in the remaining minutes of the game.

"We couldn't buy a basket," Baker said. "Dayton played us tough. It's hard to beat a team three times."

Yet, WP prevailed and Strong knows what his players could have done better.

"We didn't block out and we turned the ball over much more than Saturday's (game against Asotin)," he said. "The (Cardinals') tournament experience showed. WP is a good ball club."

Both teams fought for every possession, though Cardinals Potter and Ronnie Hulce seemed to grab almost every less-than-perfect Dayton pass with arms like tentacles. WP's forward defense was only occasionally effective, however, and the Lady Dogs kept the Cardinals' lead to 10-5 at the end of the first quarter.

Bulldog Sarah Phillips opened the scoring in the second quarter. Her team's scoring rivaled that of WP's during the period (13-9), but it still left Dayton nine points behind at 23-14 before halftime.

Players showed their tenacity at every turn. Potter's coast-to-coast breakaways were matched by Courtney Fuller scrambling to hold on to a long pass like a wide receiver in a crowd of defensive backs.

By the end of the third, it was still barely a double-digit game 31-21. Back-to-back layups from Malia Frame brought her team within six during the last five minutes of the game. But neither those nor Bickelhaupts's inspiring treys were enough to hold off more points from Dionna Baker, Potter and Hulce.

"We gave them too many second and third opportunities," Strong said. "They're good enough to take advantage of it."

Harris said her team made a classic mistake that let the Bulldogs back in the game during the fourth.

"When you get ahead you relax," she said. "But we built it back up from one good thing at a time."

WP vs Dayton 45-33

WP 10 13 7 14 - 45