RBS Bulldog Basketball
By Wally Etheridge
The Red Boiling Springs Bulldogs took on the Middle Tennessee Heat in the first of 2 games played last Tuesday night and shocked might be the word to use as the Heat came to play and the end result was a defeat for the Bulldogs 53-37.
The Red Boiling Springs fans kept waiting for the Bulldogs to make a run and put away the Heat from Middle Tennessee high school but by halftime the home team found themselves down 25-17 and in the process did not look like they were ready to play.
The Bulldogs would turn the ball over and that along with poor shot selection and a lackluster performance on defense the Bulldogs found themselves in a hole they would never climb out. Bulldog Coach Michael Owens is known for having his kids ready to play but he had no answers. Middle tennessee defense was good enough to hold the Bulldogs to only one field goal for the second quarter. Down by only 8 points at half is not something that these kids have overcome in the past and the home crowd expected that would be the case in the second half. It would not happen tonight.
The Bulldogs never made a serious run at the Heat as turnovers kept the Bulldogs from mounting any kind of comeback and the Heat held the Bulldogs from winning their home opener. The question is just how good is the Middle Tennessee heat. There is no question that the Heat are going to suprise some teams before this season is over just as they did the Bulldogs because they have a very good team and are well Coached. Bulldog scoring for the night. David Williams 11 points-Erin Francis and Matt French had 7 each. Matt Brockette and Alex Mullinex had 5 points each and Dallas Greanead had 2 points.
The Red Boiling Springs Bulldogs played their second game in 2 hours last Tuesday night in the Dog Pound at Red Boiling Springs and won going away over the Tigers of Murfreesboro Central 68-44.
The home crowd finally got to see the Bulldog team they were expecting to see in their home opener as the Bulldogs dominated for the entire game and never gave the Tigers a chance to be in this game. The defensive pressure from the Bulldogs was much better in this game than the loss to Middle Tennessee. Not only was the defense there but the Bulldogs found their shooting touch and the rebounding was outstanding.
The Bulldogs put 36 points on the scoreboard in the first half while holding the Tigers to only 17 points. The second half of this game finally turned out to be fun for the Bulldogs as Coach Michael Owens used his entire bench and every Bulldog played very well.
The Bulldog scoring was led by Matt French with 17 points while the big guy in the middle David Williams put 14 points on the board. Matt Brockette had 10 points, and Cody Dickens had 9 points. The rest of the scoring was Erin Francis with 7 points followed by Zack Roberts with 6 points. Ty Tuck had 4 points, and Skylar Holden had 1 point.
While we do not know what Coach Michael Owens had to say to these kids but you can be sure that he got his message across as these kids responded with a great effort and some outstanding hustle. These were the real Bulldogs. A big win will send these kids to Saturday and their first road trip of the year as they travel to The Webb School for 2 games.
