Cards End On Top In Classic Valley Rivalry

WAITSBURG - In one of the liveliest Touchet Valley rivalry games in recent memory, the WP Cardinals handed the Dayton Bulldogs their first loss of the season at a packed Kison Court Monday night.

Despite reaching deep to preserve their undefeated status, the visiting Bulldogs fell, 51-44, to the home team. A fourth-quarter rally brought Dayton within five points of evening the score, but it wasn't enough to catch up with the Cardinals, who were much improved since the two teams met in Dayton earlier in the season.

"We worked our butts off," Cardinal Dustin Wooderchak said. "We knew we could match up to them and beat them. It's great."

The game, which drew a big crowd from Dayton, was one of the loudest and bestattended of the season. It had the energy of a playoff game with each play, each move and each call setting off fans in opposite corners of the gymnasium.

Engaging in the basketball equivalent of hand-to-hand combat, the Cardinals stood their ground, creating and then holding a double-digit lead for most of the game. The Bulldogs, known for scoring well from the field and the free-throw line, sent their accuracy on vacation for the evening while WP thwarted many lay up attempts. The Cardinals held Garett Turner, who regularly scores at least two dozen points per game, to just nine points.

"I'm very disappointed," Bulldog Hayden Fullerton said. "We didn't shoot the ball well at all. They wanted it more than we did. We'll put it behind us and move on."

An early indication that the Bulldogs' precision was off came with Fullerton's first three-point shot attempt, which missed its target. Cardinal Billy Brown opened the scoring with his own trey a minute and a half into the first quarter.

Moments later, Fullerton drained the basket with a trey, but it would be the only one of the game, accompanied by missed field goals, rebounds and free-throw attempts.

"We couldn't make a basket," Dayton head coach Roy Ramirez said. "It wasn't our night to put it in the hole."

To add insult to injury, senior Zach Bartlow nailed a trey just before the buzzer ended the first quarter, putting the Cards ahead, 17-8.

With Brown and Eshom Estes in foul trouble, Cardinals head coach T.J. Scott was forced to reach out to his bench and produced Chance Leroue, who prompt l y stepped up with lay ups and field goals to help his team stay ahead, 26-18, by the end of the half. The freshman nailed an impressive seven points for the evening.

Turner, always the biggest thorn in the side of any opposing team, was ineffective from outside the arc and virtually shut down under the basket.

" WP did a good job playing defense on Garett," Ramirez said.

Bartlow opened the scoring after the break and his team was off to the races, racking up a 37-20 lead with 2:30 to go in the third until Kroft Sunderland landed a lay up and foul to push back with three points. The Cardinals were still ahead by 13 at 38-25 by the end of the third.

Dayton's composure began to fray. Fullerton was fouled and flung the ball to the sideline instead of the referee as is customary, adding another foul that favored WP.

"Kids are going to get frustrated," said Ramirez, who didn't fault his player for getting a little heated. "Hayden's a competitor. It is what it is."

The Bulldogs came back to pour the pressure on in the fourth, feeling support from hometown fans, who competed on the decibel gauge with their Cardinals counterparts.

Sunderland, Fullerton, Turner and Colton Bickelhaupt helped their team cut the WP lead in the last few minutes of the game, which was marked by fouls, missed free-throws and mid-court pile ups that were more remi- niscent of the tussles on a line of scrimmage.

"We lost some composure there at the end," Scott said. "We let them right back in it."

With a deficit of half a dozen points, the Bulldogs took several three-point shot attempts, but failed to convert and foul calls under both baskets largely went the Cardinals' way, as did the freethrow conversions to keep an overtime tie just out of reach for the Bulldogs.

"That was a good game," said Scott after he had a chance to catch his breath. "We came out and decided to try our best not to let Turner beat us. We did a better job on Kroft too. We outworked them getting loose balls, battle for the board and made enough plays on offense. It's a great win - a building block for our team."

WP vs Dayton

51-44

WP 17 9 12 13 - 51