Lady Dogs’ Fortunes Seesaw

ASOTIN - After a couple of weeks away from the basketball court, the Lady Bulldogs came out swinging against the Knights last Thursday, but stumbled badly during Friday night's game against the Asotin Panthers.

The Bulldogs beat the Knights, 36-30. At the outset of their game against Walla Walla Valley Academy, the Bulldogs seemed evenly matched, but jumped ahead halfway into the first quarter and kept a comfortable double-digit lead until the fourth quarter.

Several penalties were placed on each team as they competed hard in the first quarter, but with few conversions. Shelby Smith dominated the scoreboard making lay up after lay up. The Bulldogs were ahead, 8-3, at the end of the first quarter and, 21-11, at halftime.

During the middle of the third quarter, Sarah Phillips stole the ball and left the Knights in the dust, laying it up before they could catch up with her. The Knights struggled to reduce the Bulldogs' lead and finally did so in the fourth quarter by playing forward defense to keep Dayton from running away with the score.

WWVA outscored Dayton in the last quarter 12-9, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Bulldogs' lead.

"We let the half-court trap bother us a little bit," head coach Clayton Strong said. Strong said playing on a small margin of potential victory is a new experience for his players, who tend to play more loosely and effectively when they have to come from behind.

Strong used the timeout to point out to his team how it could keep the Knights' comeback at bay. WWVA was unable to convert on several free throws and the girls won it with a six-point margin.

Little things, such as miscues, incomplete passes and missed rebounds, added up to a big loss against the Panthers, who beat the Bulldogs by a 23-point margin, 55-32.

Asotin, which has had a significant height advantage among its players the entire season, outscored the Bulldogs in every quarter starting with a first-period lead, 7-4. Dayton players were unable to outplay the Panthers under the basket despite tenacious counterattacks throughout the game.

With 6 minutes to go in the game, Asotin racked up twice Dayton's points, 44-22.

Dayton vs WWVA

36-30

Dayton83 69-36 WWVA0