Dogs Have Eyes On Second State Appearance

DAYTON - Coming off its first state appearance and trophy presentation in 17 years, the Dayton boys basketball team dreams of making a repeat appearance this year.

If it does, it won't be because of returning talent. Of the six-man rotation Dayton used most of last year, the Bulldogs return no starters and only one major role player-senior Wyatt Frame.

Fifth-year head coach Roy Ramirez is not deterred, though he readily admits he lost a lot of skill and experience from last year.

"We lost our starting five," said Ramirez. "Garett Turner, Colton Bickelhaupt, Hayden Fullerton, Joey Schlachter and Kroft Sunderland. Garett was our leader and go-to-guy last year. He started since he was a freshman and averaged about 18 to 20 points a game. Colton was our point guard and ran our show on offense. Hayden was our shooter and very good defender- they were all good defenders. Joey was our rebounder. He could really jump.And Kroft was our big strong physical guy underneath."

Lesser used Jacob McCleary, whom Ramirez calls "the ultimate teammate," also graduated.

Ramirez's only returner with significant experience is last year's sixth man, Frame.Besides Frame, Ramirez expects great contributions from four seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman. Isaiah Lambert, Johnny Sanchez, Grant Heinrich and Dakota Hayes are the seniors. Ramirez projects Lambert- who bided his time on the varsity bench last year-to be his point guard this year. "He's really matured at handling the basketball, and he's shooting his outside shot pretty well."

Ramirez sees the diminutive Sanchez (5-foot-8) as his defensive guy. "He's our sparkplug. He's not tall, but he's all heart, and plays extremely hard whenever he's on the floor," said Ramirez.

At 6-foot-2, Ramirez pegs Heinrich as both an inside player at post and an outside player at the wing. "Grant is a very aggressive and very smart basketball player. He knows all the plays we run, always makes the right cuts, and plays very well defensively."

Dakota Hayes, at 5-foot-11, will be utilized, like Heinrich, as an inside-out player.

"We aren't the tallest," Ramirez said. "But (Hayes) is very athletic and a very good leaper. We expect rebounding both offensively and defensively to be a very big part of his game."

One player who won't be playing both inside and out is Ramirez's son, Cruz, a junior. A 6-footer with bulk, Cruz will man the low post exclusively for the Dawgs.

Offensively, the Bulldogs will look much the same as they did last year. The Bulldogs will push the tempo and always try to get the ball out and go. Ramirez believes his players will be in good enough shape to play that style of ball for four quarters.

Ramirez sees the Southeast 2B as an absolute dog fight- pun intended.

"Tri-Cities Prep will be very good," said Ramirez. "I think DeSales will be very good. We saw WWVA play some this summer and they look pretty good.And the guys inWaitsburg always have good athletic teams. District 9 is going to be tough."

Dayton plays its first game of the season Friday at Elgin.

Dayton Boys Varsity

Isaiah Lambert- Sr.

Wyatt Frame- Sr.

Jonny Sanchez-Sr

Grant Heinrich-Sr

Dakota Hayes-Sr

Billy Brown-Sr

Cruz Ramirez-Jr

Logan Hays-Jr

Pedro Barbosa de Deus-Jr

Zane Patton- Sr

Takayuki Inoue-Jr

Ian Smay-So

Levi Laib- So

Mathew Warren-So

Derek McCleary-So

Zach Wagooner- Fr