

Monday evening the Skyline Tigers came to town for a make-up game and left a W for the ElDo Bulldogs - 62-52. In the top photo, Nick Norval takes a shot for two of his 21 team leading points. Head Coach Joel Braden said the team played very well thoughout the game and everyone scored. In the bottom photo, Kanon Hoover, who scored his 1,000th point, slashes up the lane putting down the shot and a Skyline Tiger. Points scored by quarter were; ElDo - 17, 17, 23, 7; Skyline - 8, 15, 8, 21.
Varsity boys take second in Clinton tourneyThe El Dorado Springs boys basketball team took second place in the Clinton tournament this past week.
The Bulldogs came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and opened the tournament Tuesday against the No. 8 seed, Holden Eagles.
The Eagles started the game playing well while the Bulldogs came out lacking some energy. Holden led at halftime 28-22 and extended the lead to 13 in the third quarter before El Dorado came alive. The Bulldogs cut the lead to 5 by the end of the third and outscored Holden 25-13 in the fourth quarter for a 60-51 win.
Head Coach Joel Braden said, “We lacked energy and excitement to start the game. It took us two and a half quarters to realize that we are not good enough to just show up and win any game.”
Ace Whitesell had one offensive rebound and two steals. Jeremy Garrett had one defensive rebound. Trae Hall had one offensive rebound and one steal. Nick Norval had one offensive and six defensive rebounds and one block. Colt Whitesell had one offensive and two defensive rebounds and four steals. Dusty Hooper had seven defensive rebounds, one block and one steal. Luke McGee had one defensive rebound. Kanon Hoover had two defensive rebounds and two steals.
Trevor Quinlan had one offensive and one defensive rebound and one steal. Cody Janes had two defensive rebounds and one steal.
El Dorado then took on the fourth seeded Butler Bears. The game became a slower, grind it out game with the Bulldogs winning 44-37. The Bulldogs took a 26-14 lead into halftime and held off a late run by the Bears for the win.
“Our defense was very good. We made it difficult for Butler to get good looks at the basket. Offensively we did not score a lot of points but were patient and took good shots throughout the game.” Braden said.
Ace Whitesell had two offensive rebounds. Nick Norval had one offensive and six defensive rebounds and two steals. Colt Whitesell had one defensive rebound. Dusty Hooper had one defensive rebound and two steals. Luke McGee had one offensive and two defensive rebounds and one block. Kanon Hoover had three defensive rebounds and two steals. Trevor Quinlan had two each offensive and defensive rebounds and one block. Cody Janes had one offensive rebound and seven defensive rebounds.
This set up a Saturday night championship game against the No. 3 seed, Clinton Cardinals. Clinton posed match up problems for El Dorado as they started 6’3 Logan Porta, 6’3 Collin Garvin, and 6’9 Aaron Hunt on their front line. The Bulldogs stayed close in the first but Clinton pulled away in the second quarter boasting a 29-14 half time lead. El Dorado could not cut into the halftime lead and lost the game 58-42.
Coach Braden said, “We did some good things offensively but we could not get shots to fall. Our defense was also good but when you are having trouble making baskets you have to be almost perfect on defense to beat a good team. I am proud of the effort of our boys but tonight was not our night.”
The Bulldogs finished second in the tournament and Kanon Hoover and Nick Norval were recognized on the all tournament team.
Ace Whitesell had one offensive rebound and one defensive rebound and three steals. Trae Hall had one defensive rebound. Nick Norval had one offensive and six defensive rebounds and two steals. Colt Whitesell had two each offensive and defensive rebounds and one steal. Dusty Hooper had one offensive rebound. Luke McGee had one steal and Kanon Hoover and Trevor Quinlan each had one offensive rebound and one steal. Cody Janes had one offensive and two defensive rebounds and one steal.
The Bulldogs continued their season with three home games this week. Monday they played a make up game against Skyline, Tuesday Seneca came to town, and they finish the week hosting Warsaw on Thursday at 6 p.m.