Dogs Beat WWVA, Asotin

ASOTIN - During the first half of the Bulldogs' game against Asotin, it appeared as though their undefeated status might be at risk.

At one point during the second quarter, the Panthers had a three-point lead, 21- 18.

But Dayton came roaring back after the break, outscoring Asotin, 19-2, in the third quarter and 16-14 in the fourth to win the game, 62-39.

After winning their game against Walla Walla Valley Academy with a comfortable 27-point margin, 68-41, the Bulldogs went, 15-0, for the season before their encounter with the muchimproved WP Cardinals.

In their game against the Knights, the Bulldogs took a four-point opening lead before WWVA equalized only to see Dayton penetrate the key quickly and easily to pull ahead with every play in the book: backhand, overhand, underhand, steals, breakaways.

By the end of the second quarter, the dogs were ahead, 37-24. After the break, Dayton expanded its lead further with effective rebounds, field goals, treys and a steely defense under the basket to end the Knights' hopes. Only in the second quarter did WWVA come close to answering the Bulldogs' points with a 19-18 outcome in favor of the home team.

"After two weeks off the court, we played like we started the season all over again," head coach Roy Ramirez said. "But our defense was much better during the second half. I thought we blocked out better and we got the shots we wanted."

During the first half of their game against Asotin, Dayton ran into some resistance.

"They played us pretty tough in the first half," head coach Roy Ramirez said. "They played pretty good defense."

Due to a lack of intensity, the Bulldogs missed a lot of easy shots during the first two quarters, Ramirez said. The two teams seemed bent on mutual defensive destruction during the first quarter, which ended with a low score of 10-7 in Dayton's favor.

Asotin scored first to open the second quarter, but the Bulldogs answered with back-to-back lay ups. Two Asotin treys and a successful free-throw attempt pushed the Panthers ahead for the first and last time of the game. Dayton bounced back after some tough struggles under the basket and ended the half ahead, 27-23.

The second half was a completely different story. It was almost as though a different Dayton team took the court and went to work.

"I asked them if they really wanted to win or not," Ramirez said about his halftime check-in with the boys. "I left it up to them. It was a question of going harder than they did. We didn't change anything. They just turned up the defense and that helped the offense get going."

Dayton quickly surged ahead to a 14-point lead, using its defense as a launch pad for coast-to-coast breakaways. The three-point shot was the only weapon the Panthers had left against Kroft Sunderland's precision rebounding and a Fullerton trey that hit its target just before the buzzer sounded the end of the third quarter. The score was 46-25. Asotin scored only two points during the period.

Fullerton launched another laser-guided missile early in the fourth quarter, taking the Panthers crowd out of the game and paving the way for his teammates to batter down Asotin's door even further. The Bulldogs had answers for every Panthers comeback thought and then some.

Dayton was 15-0.

Dayton vs WWVA

68-41

Dayton 18 19 19 12 - 68 WWVA618 8 9-41

Garett Turner 19

Kroft Sunderland 16

Hayden Fullerton 12

Wyatt Frame 12

Colton Bickelhaupt 4

Joey Schlachter 3

Johnnie Sanchez 2.

FT: 13/19 for 68.4 percent.

Dayton vs Asotin

62-39

Dayton 10 17 19 16 - 62

Asotin 7 16 2 14 - 39

Garett Turner 18

Hayden Fullerton 13

Kroft Sunderland 11

Wyatt Frame 8

Joey Schlachter 5

Colton Bickelhaupt 4