The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - The Bull­dogs boys varsity team fought until the bitter end in their 60-41 loss against the WWVA Knights Tuesday night, but they could not get past their two biggest season-long hurdles: height and second-half shooting malaise.

"It's been like that all year," head coach Roy Ramirez said. "You can't fault their effort. They all played hard. They ran the floor well. They passed the ball well. But during the sec­ond half they have a tough time putting the ball in the hole."

And not being a tall team, the Dogs were up against the likes of WWVA's 6'6" Jordan Schuette, who got away with a team-high and game-high 19 points.

"They're a good team," said Johnny Sanchez, one of five seniors who bid the crowd farewell in their last home court game on Senior Night. "Our defense was breaking down."

Dayton had trouble keep­ing pace with the Knights from the start, being the second to score and trailing 13-10 at the end of the first quarter, despite a Bulldog trey that fired up the team and the fans.

Barely into the second period, the Bulldogs quickly resorted to more illegal con­tact to stem the Knights' at­tacks on the key. Dayton still scored, including a crowd- pleasing trey from senior Isaiah Lambert and layups from him and from fellow senior Wyatt Frame.

But the Knights answered every Dayton point and then some, opening the margin to 30-20 at the half-time buzzer.

Dayton managed to start the third quarter with five points, but the Bulldogs were outscored by the Knights' six and appeared to lose steam. Junior Cruz Ramirez managed to get through for another layup, but Frame got wedged between two WWVA defenders in a simi­lar attempt, only to see the Knights break out and put the ball away at the other end of the court.

The shooting wasn't much better, coach Ramirez said.

"We got pretty good shots," he said. "They just didn't go in. When you're 28 percent from the field, you're not going to have a good outcome."

It didn't help Dayton's momentum that WWVA made a bucket and drew a foul at the buzzer that ended the third, putting them 15 points ahead at 44-29.

Frame, Lambert and San­chez all tried to make the best of the last quarter with valiant layups and several on-target free throws. But the Knights dominated both keys with rebounds and on defense, killing any Dayton hopes of catching up and running away with the game.

Ramirez managed a gritty rebound for a layup with four minutes to go in the game, making it 51-37, but the Knights took immedi­ate vengeance with a trey, while Frame's attempt at a long shot bounced against the rim.

Sanchez sank a two-point field goal before the buzzer ended the game 60-41 in favor of the visitors.

Dayton last game of the season is against Tri Cities Prep on Saturday. The team is 3-16 overall and 2-7 in league.