Dogs Crush Crusaders

WALLA WALLA - For the first time in 17 years, the Dayton Bulldogs are going to Spokane for the Hardwood Classic state basketball championship tournament starting Thursday.

After resoundingly beating the Riverside Christian Crusaders from Yakima, 59-41, in front of a predominantly hometown crowd Friday night at Walla Walla High School, the Dogs are now in the Final 8 of their 2B division.

"We've worked hard since fifth grade and this was our goal," senior Joey Schlachter said when he emerged from the locker room after the hard physical match against the Crusaders.

The 2012 Bulldogs, the best team to represent their high school since the 1995 crew, face Toutle Lake High School Thursday in Spokane.

At first in the game last Friday, the Bulldogs were having trouble outpacing the Crusaders, who were billed as short but quick and agile.

Riverside had answers to almost every Bulldog score from the outset of the first period, which ended, 12-10, in favor of Dayton. The Crusaders evened the score at the start of the second quarter, 12-12, and the two teams ran neck-and-neck until the Dogs' points started open a small gap on the board with steals from Wyatt Frame, and layups from Schlachter, Hayden Fullerton and Garett Turner.

Although the Crusaders proved decent rebounders and finishers, the Dogs denied them their equal share of points with an effective cordon around the key.

" The defense really gave us the edge," Dayton head coach Roy Ramirez said. " The big guys ( Schlachter and Kroft Sunderland) did a good job. I'm just proud of (all) my guys."

With about 4 minutes to go in the half, Cruz Ramirez made a key pass to Sunderland, who laid it up for two and started a six-point run that proved monumental to the ul- timate outcome of the game.

"That gave us an edge going into halftime," the younger Ramirez said. "We kept it going all the way."

Dayton players doubleteamed Crusaders heading for the Dogs' territory, forcing a traveling call on Riverside. Fullerton stole the ball and coasted for a dunk with just less than a minute to go and after a single Crusaders freethrow shot, Turner added one more layup to give his team a seven-point lead, 28-21, before the break.

Per tradition, Turner was the points leader with 24 at the end of the game, followed by 17 for Fullerton and 12 for Schlachter who said he had his best game of the year at Wa Hi.

"I was one rebound from a double-double," he said.

The first score of the second half, a Turner trey, boded well for the Bulldogs and represented Dayton's first double-digit lead, 31-21. The Dogs' lead barely dipped below 10 after that. With the Crusaders missing big from the field and inside the key, Dayton just kept any Riverside momentum out of reach, ending the quarter, 39-29.

"We Bulldogs, we don't stop," Cruz Ramirez said. "We watched the film and we felt confident going in. The whole team came together. Respect all and fear none."

Growing weary and short on defensive strategies, the Crusaders resorted to fouls and tough physical hand-to-hand combat that sent Turner and company to the free-throw line to launch their laser-guided missiles through the net. The team scored 20 out of 33 freethrow attempts for more than 60 percent.

Riverside's forward defense backfired more than once. The Crusaders managed to foul Schlachter under his own basket, adding insult to their own injury in the form of an extra free-throw point that put Dayton ahead, 53-37, with just a few minutes to go in the game.

"It was almost more like a football game than a basketball game," coach Ramirez said. "We just played hard."

Dayton vs. Riverside

Christian

59-41

Dayton (59) 12 16 11 20 - 59