ElDo JV Bulldogs win season finaleby Cory HentonWhen the season started the JV Bulldogs had high expectations. We wanted to get more knowledgeable of the game and wanted to learn to play a new style of basketball, a more positive style. I believe we did both and played like it this past Friday at Butler. It was the tale of two halves as we played basically comatose in the 1st half and played outstanding in the 2nd half.
The 1st half was led by our old nemesis, the turnover. It seemed to happen about every time we went down the court; we would throw it out of bounds, off people’s hands, and, of course, to the other team. Basically all it had to deal with was our lack of focus. Maybe it was the warm weather or maybe it just the fact that it was our last game, we will never know. What we do know is that we went into halftime down 15-11 which was our lowest halftime score of the year.
During a wonderful halftime talk we talked about focusing on the task at hand and when the game was over their minds could go elsewhere. We were here to play and to revenge an earlier loss to the Bears. We came out on fire and our defense played with intensity. I was very proud of the effort in the second half. Luke McGee scored 14 points in the second half and he was just 2 points shy of the Butler total for the 2nd half. We pulled out the victory 39-31. In the second half we played great and got valuable minutes from Dylan Timmerman, Blake McKinney, and Dalton Lusk. None of these mentioned scored much but their defense and rebounding was the key to our victory.
This year has been a learning experience for all of us. We have had plenty of ups and downs through our journey as we finished our season 11-7. Most of the JV players will move onto Varsity next year but some will be back to continue the learning. We, of course, will have freshman coming in but I am looking forward to continuing our success with the players stepping into new roles; these players are Dylan Timmerman, Chase Lackey, Chance Butterfield and Nick Allison. These four young men fought hard all year and if they stick with basketball they will have a big opportunity to lead us next year. It’s been a great year and I would like to thank all the players, parents and fans for everything they do and have done throughout the year.
Butler Bears jump on BulldogsThe El Dorado Springs played one game last week and it was not a good one for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs traveled to Butler to play the Bears and lost 46-63. The Bulldogs found themselves down at the end of the first quarter 16-8 and down 24-15 at half. The second half was not any better for the Bulldogs as Butler outscored El Dorado by
eight in the second half for the 63-46 final.
Head Coach Joel Braden said, “Butler played well, with intensity and effort and we did not match that. We were very sluggish and not very good defensively.” The Bulldogs started district play Tuesday with a 4 p.m. match in Stockton vs. Warsaw.
Dusty Hooper led the Bulldog scoring with 19.
Defensively, Hooper and Nick Norval tied for the lead with two defensive rebounds and one steal. Cody Janes had one offensive and one defensive rebound. Ace Whitesell had one offensive rebound and one steal. Luke McGee had one defensive rebound.
Jeremy Garrett and Kanon Hoover each had one steal.
Season ends for BulldogsThe 2010 basketball season came to an end for the El Dorado Springs Bulldog varsity girls and varsity boys in the first round of district play in Stockton.
On Monday night, the girls fell to a dominating Pleasant Hope team.
On Tuesday evening, the boys fell to a Warsaw team they had beaten twice in the regular season.
Head Coach Joel Braden said, “It’s kind of disappointing. We lost 80 to 63. Offensively, we played pretty well to score 63 points.
We got some good shots. Warsaw shot it well and we didn’t play good enough defense to slow them down.”
ElDo was the No. 1 seed. Warsaw was the No. 8 seed.
The Bulldog boys ended the season with a record of 17 wins and nine losses.
Coach Braden said, “The season was good. The kids really played good. That one game and you’re done. It’s kind of disappointing how it ended.”
Lady Bulldogs lose two close onesLast week the El Dorado Springs Bulldog varsity girls came up short in games with Archie at home and Warsaw on the road.
On Tuesday, Feb. 22, against Archie, Head Coach Beau Swopes said, “Our starters got into some foul trouble early and our bench really stepped up and kept us in the game. The girls played really well, but we struggled to finish on some inside shots late in the game and Archie did a good job of hitting some clutch free throws.”
The score by quarters was: 1st - ElDo 15, Archie 18; at the half - ElDo 27, Archie 36; 3rd quarter - ElDo 44, Archie 51; final ElDo 64, Archie 70.
Leading scorers: Erin Bush 17, Taylor Alumbaugh and Kaili Simmons 11
Leading rebounders: Kaili Simmons 9, Brooke Stacy 5
On Thursday, Feb. 25, the Lady Bulldogs took on the Warsaw Wildcats.
Coach Swopes said, “We struggled at the beginning of every quarter to get started, but came on late to close the gap. I was happy with the effort but our execution at the beginning of quarters left something to be desired. The girls never quit, but we came up a little short when the buzzer went off.”
The scores by quarter were: 1st - Lady Bulldogs 7, Lady Wildcats 13; half time - Lady Bulldogs 21, Lady Wildcats 26; 3rd quarter - Lady Bulldogs 32, Lady Wildcats - 43; final - Lady Bulldogs 47, Lady Wildcats 54.
Leading scorers: Erin Bush and Kaili Simmons 13.
Leading rebounder: Kaili Simmons 10.
NO LOOK PLAY – You’ve seen the no look pass, but this looked like the no look play as Bulldog Ace Whitesell drove to the basket against a talented Dadeville team on senior night Thursday, Feb. 18. With his brother, Colt Whitesell, No. 20, ready to rebound, Ace opened his eyes in time for a jump shot. The Bulldogs lost the contest 47-72.
HELP’S A COMIN’ – The Dadeville defender had Bulldog Jeremy Garrett (No. 2) pinned down, but his teammate, Kanon Hoover (No. 30) broke free to take the pass in the Feb. 18 game on the home court.
OPTIMIST TOURNAMENT WINNERS - The El Dorado Springs 6th grade Basketball team won the El Dorado Springs Optimist Basketball tournament on Saturday, Feb. 27. They went undefeated playing Arma, KS, Nevada, Lamar, Osceola and then defeated Osceola again in the championship game. Pictured are (front row from left) Tessa Durnell, Becky Jennings, Cameron McPeak and Kennedy Renfro; (back) Coach Ronnie Simmons, Kinli Simmons, Makayla Herbst, Olivia Hallford, Anyssa Salazar and Assistant Coach Kent Renfro. We again would like to thank our sponsors Dash Floor Covering and Mid-Missouri Bank.
