Dogs Win Neck-And-Neck Title Game

WALLA WALLA - If a trey was worth four points, Cardinal Zach Bartlow's three-pointer that drained the net at the buzzer would have tied his team's game against the Dayton Bulldogs, forcing the battle over the district title into overtime.

Instead, it fell one point short and the Bulldogs captured their first district crown in 17 years after beating their valley rivals, 57-56, at Whitman College on Monday.

"Every time we play them (Cardinals), it's close," Dayton head coach Roy Ramirez said. "They were right there in our face. They made us earn everything we got tonight."

This reporter stopped counting the number of times the two teams traded the lead or evened the score, particularly at the heart of the game in the third quarter, which ended, 39-37, in favor of the Bulldogs.

Dayton's Garett Turner, whose scoring could barely be contained, was the first to light up the board in the final period, but a foul against Dalton Estes after he scored, tied the game until Bulldog Hayden Fullerton put his team ahead at the free-throw line .

T he Dayton defense shielded any follow-up scoring attempts from the Cards and ran down the shot clock to turn over possession. Twice in a row, Dayton's Kroft Sunderland laid up the ball with little resistance, while the Cardinals had a tough time getting their shots to go in on the other coast.

"I have to give credit to Dayton's defensive plan," Cardinals head coach TJ Scott said after the game.

A Wyatt Frame trey from the corner put the Cards even further in the hole, 51-41, bringing the Dayton crowd to its feet with 4 minutes to go in the final quarter. Bartlow and Fullerton exchanged free-throw shots to bring the score to 53-46 with barely a minute to go. Justin Zuger launched heavy artillery for three points, bringing the Cards within four points.

A Turner free throw brought the Dogs to 54- 49, only to see WP creep back up from two Bartlow free throws, 54-51. Colton Bickelhaupt drew a foul and scored twice. Bartlow did the same and scored twice.

The score was 56-53. Turner was fouled with 10 seconds to go and added one more point to Dayton's lead. With the seconds flying off the clock and the crowd locking its eyes on every movement on the court, Bartlow launched his long shot and brought his team within a single point from tying the game.

"We made it back within one, but it wasn't enough," Scott said. "They made a big run on us. We just needed one more of something."

The Cardinals face Lake Roosevelt, whose team has a 6-foot, 8-inch player, Ty Egbert, who is set to play basketball at the University of Idaho after he graduates.

"We know him. We've seen him," Scott said. "We lost by points against them in Spokane. Now the kid's a year older and a lot more efficient. We'll have our hands full."

Dayton too will have its hands full with Riverside Christian.

" They aren't big but they're real ly quick," Ramirez said. "It will be a good game."

Dayton vs WP 57-56

Day 13 11 15 20 - 57 WP 13 8 16 19 - 56