Dogs Make History At State

SPOKANE -- If the Bulldogs' first Final 8 game against the Toutle Lake Fighting Ducks was a downer, their narrow victory over the LaConner Braves in the second matchup on Friday was very much the opposite.

After a rough start in which Dayton fell behind, 8-0, during the first quarter, the Bulldogs rallied, pulled ahead and evened the score by halftime, then held on to their lead with tenacity until the bitter, sweet end ."It was quite a defensive battle, a low-scoring game," Bulldog Garett Turner said about his team's, 39-37, victory. "We got the shots when we needed them."

After feeling nervous on the big arena court on Thursday night, the Bulldogs hit their stride on Friday, looking every bit as comfortable as they have the entire 24-3 season.

"We started doing all the little things right and everything fell together," Dayton's Wyatt Frame said.

The Bulldogs missed several layup attempts in the first period, which ended, 8-2, in favor of the Braves. But the team burst onto the court in the sec- ond quarter with layups from Frame and Hayden Fullerton, free-throw shots and field goals from Colton Bickelhaupt, and a trey from Turner that tied the game, 16-16, at the half.

The Bulldogs carried their momentum into the second half, lighting up the scoreboard with a layup from Joey Schlachter that put the team ahead, 18-16, and proved the beginning of a lead that grew to 28-20 by the end of the third quarter.

"We started to play our kind of basketball," head coach Roy Ramirez said. "Our second game was much better."

At the third-period buzzer, the boys received a standing ovation from hometown fans for getting back into the game and showing what they were able to do with the basketball.

Into the fourth quarter, the Braves resorted to a more physical defense that led to fouls in Dayton's favor, followed by back-to-back scores that reduced the Bulldogs' lead to just three points. With just more than 2:30 to go, LaConner tied the game at 30. The two teams exchanged leads and while the Braves took a time out, the fired-up crowds exchanged fighting song chants across the court.

Fullerton drained the net with a trey to give Dayton the lead with less than a minute to go to put his team ahead, 35-32. The teams exchanged fouls and free throws, the several lastminute timeouts. With 20 seconds remaining, Turner added two free-throw points to the score, 37-34. Turner was fouled again with just 6.5 seconds to go and made both shots to widen the points spread, 39-34.

While the Dayton fans shouted "DHS All The Way," the Braves managed one more trey to come within two points, but it wasn't enough to spoil the Bulldogs' only victory of the tournament and the team was off to play the following day for fourth/sixth place.