The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WALLA WALLA -- The Dayton Lady Bulldogs are living the dream after a 41-36 upset over the Asotin Panthers last Saturday night.

With a rocky, 0-8, start to the season, a shot at the district title game would seem out of reach to the average Joe, but that isn't the case for the Dogs.

"I kept telling the girls not to get in the mindset that we still couldn't end up in the tournament," said Dayton head coach Clayton Strong. "The girls didn't give up and kept working harder and improving and now look where we are."

The Bulldogs got off to a great start against the Panthers by drawing two early fouls on their standout JaLisa Jose sending her to the bench early.

"Getting her into foul trouble was a huge thing for us," said Strong.

Bulldog Shelby Smith used her boxing out talents to draw an over-the-back call on Jose, and less than a minute later, Bulldog Nicole Lambert drew Jose's second foul on a driving layup.

The Panthers were first to score with 5 minutes left in the first quarter, but Bulldog McKayla Bickelhaupt used her juking and jiving for a pull up jump shot to light the board for the Dogs.

Lambert followed that up with a driving layup of her own and drew another Panther foul.

The Panthers connected with a bucket of their own to take a short lived lead with a minute left on the clock.

Bulldog Courtney Fuller used her ball-handling skills to produce another Bulldog bucket. But it was Bulldog Samantha Harding who got the crowd to its feet with a buzzer-beating hail mary that banked into the net to give the Bulldogs a 9-5 lead after one quarter.

The second-quarter scoring for the Bulldogs began when Lambert made a diving save to Sarah Phillips who drew another Panther foul and sank both her free throws.

The Panthers answered with their own basket, but would soon send Jose back to the bench after Smith took one for the team drawing an offensive foul with 5 minutes left the second.

The Bulldogs defense held strong bringing down repeated defensive rebounds and continuing to score on the Panthers with baskets from Fuller and Lexi Ramirez giving the Bulldogs a 15-12 halftime lead.

The first part of the third quarter was all Bickelhaupt as she began the Bulldog buckets with her perfect pull up jump shot. She followed that up with one from downtown for three, and finished off the Bulldog opening run with a drive up the key for two.

Ramirez kept the Bulldog baskets coming with a baseline drive for two.

The Panthers went on a 6-0 run to end the third but the Bulldogs still hand the upper hand with a 25-24 lead going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was an all-out dog fight with the Bulldogs kicking things off with a Smith basket from underneath.

Malia Frame added two more for the Dogs, but the Panthers answered with a three-pointer to pull within three points of the Bulldogs.

Smith fought off the Panthers for a put back for a 34-30 lead with less than 2 minutes left in the game.

The Bulldogs defensive intensity only grew and they continued to hold strong against the Panthers.

With just 39 seconds remaining in the game the Panthers clock-stopping fouls began.

It was Bickelhaupt who put this game away for the Dogs as she went six-for-six from the line to clinch a 41- 36 Bulldog victory.

Bickelhaupt was top dog with 16 points and five rebounds. Ramirez added six points, five rebounds and three assists. Smith contributed five points and seven rebounds.

Dayton vs Asotin 41-36

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Bickelhaupt 16 pts 5 reb

Ramirez 6 pts 5 reb 3 asts

Smith 5 pts 7 reb

Fuller 5 pts

Harting 3pts

Frame 2 pts 8 reb

Lambert 2 pts 4 reb 2 stls

Phillips 2 pts