Bulldogs Win a Dogfight! Van Buren Goes Down in Final Seconds!
It's the second slate of games for the season - and the Bulldogs find themselves travelling to the Central Time Zone again. With a rough start to the season dropping all three games against 3A school Cumberland County, the Bulldogs travel west again, but this time they faced off against a fellow 1A school in Van Buren County. After driving almost 2 hours, the Dogs had 2 Varsity games to play. How would it play out? Let's take a look behind the curtain:
Up first were the Lady Dogs. They took on a Van Buren team that was runner-up at the state level last year - and they didn't lose a single player. As this game started - they definitely looked the part. Head Coach Jen Hendricks and her 7 Lady Bulldogs had a tall task ahead of them with the Van Buren girls. The first 3-5 minutes, the Bulldogs stayed competitive - but they wore down with the onslaught of talent from Van Buren - and they were out-sized in the post. Van Buren got ahead early and stayed ahead - ending with a 69-31 win over the Bulldogs. All was not lost - there were some signs of life and improvement from the Bulldogs. They will look forward to their first home game this Tuesday against Eagleton Academy.
After seeing the skill on the Van Buren girls, the boys had to take the court. Would they have the same level of dominance? Well - yes and no. They had one player that dropped a literal fifty-piece on the Bulldogs! Callyn Sullivan scored 50 of Van Buren's 70 points - and he was a very efficient 18/23 from the free throw line by himself. Sullivan's gutsy performance simply wasn't enough for the Bulldogs. While the Dogs didn't have a scorer with 50 - they had 9 different scorers - showing that they were ready to spread the ball around in their motion offense. Led by Paxton Quinney and Ian Robinson with 18 & 17 points respectively - the Bulldogs were in sync. Despite battling some highly questionable calls - especially in the last 90 seconds of the game - the Dogs held off Van Buren's comeback - winning 72-70 with a last second scramble for possession.
Below are a few thoughts meant to encourage some of our young athletes that went above and beyond against Van Buren County:
Up first were the Lady Dogs. They took on a Van Buren team that was runner-up at the state level last year - and they didn't lose a single player. As this game started - they definitely looked the part. Head Coach Jen Hendricks and her 7 Lady Bulldogs had a tall task ahead of them with the Van Buren girls. The first 3-5 minutes, the Bulldogs stayed competitive - but they wore down with the onslaught of talent from Van Buren - and they were out-sized in the post. Van Buren got ahead early and stayed ahead - ending with a 69-31 win over the Bulldogs. All was not lost - there were some signs of life and improvement from the Bulldogs. They will look forward to their first home game this Tuesday against Eagleton Academy.
After seeing the skill on the Van Buren girls, the boys had to take the court. Would they have the same level of dominance? Well - yes and no. They had one player that dropped a literal fifty-piece on the Bulldogs! Callyn Sullivan scored 50 of Van Buren's 70 points - and he was a very efficient 18/23 from the free throw line by himself. Sullivan's gutsy performance simply wasn't enough for the Bulldogs. While the Dogs didn't have a scorer with 50 - they had 9 different scorers - showing that they were ready to spread the ball around in their motion offense. Led by Paxton Quinney and Ian Robinson with 18 & 17 points respectively - the Bulldogs were in sync. Despite battling some highly questionable calls - especially in the last 90 seconds of the game - the Dogs held off Van Buren's comeback - winning 72-70 with a last second scramble for possession.
Below are a few thoughts meant to encourage some of our young athletes that went above and beyond against Van Buren County:
Press Break
One look at the banners hanging in the gym from recent years and you instantly know the Van Buren girls team has had plenty of recent success. And then you see them warm up - and you realize this is a legitimate program. I knew we would have our hands full out of the gate. With only 7 viable, healthy players to start the game - the strategy changes a bit. You have to avoid wearing down your players, and you have to keep them out of foul trouble. Both could be backbreakers for a short-staffed squad. Van Buren opened the game with an aggressive press... and lo and behold, Coach Hendricks had these girls prepped and ready to break the press that would be assaulting them. Not breaking the press means you never get the ball down the court... but time after time, the girls were able to break the aggressive press from Van Buren which ended with quality shots. For the first 3-5 minutes, we kept the score close from some hot early shooting. This pressbreaker gives us hope - but what the pressbreaker represents is more foundational. We have a coach that will take her team back to the lab and work on the areas that need improvement. This season will be tough with such a shallow bench... but for the ones that came to play - you will have an opportunity to get better and have all the minutes you could ever want... and then some!
The Worst Part of the Girls Game
The girls got down pretty big in the first half once Van Buren dialed in their healthy offensive attack. In the second half of a game where Addison Brown was playing some of her best high school basketball when she turned to catch an incoming pass. She was positioned a little awkward with her knee twisted... and she went down... HARD. Sometimes, you can tell an injury is more minor - but this one was a big deal. She laid there motionless except for slapping at the ground and grabbing at her leg. The pain seemed real - and this injury, if it's something serious, will prove costly for the Lady Bulldogs. Brown left the game with a solid 5 point effort and would not return. Prayers up for Miss Brown!
The BIGS Contribute
In game 1 against Cumberland County, the 2 "Bigs" in Daniel Bunch and Noah "Psych" Ward ended the game with zero points each. Obviously, you want to see some rebounds and put backs while the guys in the post play big. In the second game, they turned things around as Bunch (the starter) scored 8 points and Ward chipped in for 4 - providing a much needed pressure valve for the wings. Bunch has a textbook shooting style and looked more confident than normal in getting the ball in space and executing well. Both post players ended up in foul trouble as the refs were putting #12 and #33 on the line as much as possible - as evidenced by the 29 free throws they shot (making a remarkable 24 of them). While they'll need to clean up the fouls - the physical play down low is exactly what we need to see from these two! Buckle up for a bumpy ride!
The Scoring Race is On!
Last year's scoring leader was sophomore standout Paxton Quinney. Now a junior, one might assume Quinney would run away with the scoring title again. Not so fast says senior star Ian Robinson. In game one, Robinson was the top scorer with 19, and he tacked on another 17 against Van Buren. Quinney did find his shot in this game as the team's leading scorer with 18. Much like the aforementioned Ward and Bunch - both Quinney and Robinson ALSO ended up in early foul trouble. Despite the fouls (which were handed out freely to all the boys in Wartburg blue), both Quinney and Robinson are playing smooth and controlled basketball. Robinson showed his poise in the final seconds of the game. Up by one point, Van Buren put him on the line for 2 free throws. He went 2/2 - improving to 3/3 for the game. Both Robinson and Quinney could be a force to be reckoned with this season - and they will be piling up the points in the process.
One More Gutsy Performance
The last gutsy performance of the night comes from Parker Rogers. Rog can typically be seen with a hat perched high on his head, a smile on his face, and an Alani Nu energy drink in his hand. Quietly, the sophomore has compiled the 3rd most points on the boys team this season with a healthy 10 point performance tonight against Van Buren. Rog is one of those guys that can dribble low to the ground and accelerate the lower he gets - making him hard to defend. His slippery style has him in a solid position to increase his workload as he makes the most of his opportunities.
That's it for this time! I hope you've enjoyed the DogBlitz... Next up is Eagleton Academy on Tuesday, Nov 25 where we will see our first home game, and our first Eastern Time Zone game of the season!
Go Dogs!
