BULLDOGS BEAT WATERTOWN-55-54 CLAIM THIRD IN DISTRICT 8A TOURNAMENT
Not a lot of basketball fans who follow Bulldog basketball gave the Red-White and Gray much chance of beating Watertown in the consolation of District 8A played last Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers not only beat the Bulldogs Twice this year and both victories was by double digits including a 66-55 win on the Bulldogs home court.
You can give a lot of credit to Bulldog Coach Michael Owens as he guided the Bulldogs to a very exciting 55-54 victory last Saturday and you can bet that Coach Owens was glad to see Bulldog Senior Center Brince Crouch put the Bulldogs on his shoulders and willed them to victory. With 24 points in the game plus 23 rebounds and Crouch scored 9 points in the third quarter and no other Bulldog made a point in the quarter. Crouch played the game of his life.
Crouch was not the only Bulldog to play a great game,they all did. Chance Asberry knocked down 4 big 3 pointers before fouling out with over 6 minutes left in the game. Nick Deckard had 11 first half points as the Bulldogs took a 34-26 lead at half-time. Deckard’s defense was a vital point in this game. Zane Roberts only scored 3 points but he also played great on defense and handling the Bulldog offense. Alex Mullinex scored 4 big points but his leadership and rebounding was vital because they came with the game on the line.
Watertown scored the first 4 points of the game but Asberry nailed 2 long 3 pointers as did Nick Deckard and the Bulldogs took a 19-9 lead going into the second quarter. The Bulldog defense consisted of a 2-3 match-up zone and that kept the Tigers off balance the entire game.
The Bulldogs got into foul trouble with both Asberry and Roberts going to the bench in the third quarter. That is when the Tigers went to work cutting the lead down to 45-40 going into the fourth quarter. The Tigers finally caught the Bulldogs and went ahead 54-52 with 3 minutes left in the game. The Tigers failed to score the rest of the game as they let the air out but a missed shot allowed the Bulldogs Brince Crouch to drive the baseline and make a 2 point shot and he was fouled on the play and he made the free throw to give the Bulldogs a 55-54 lead with 30 seconds left in the game. The Tigers ran the clock down to 7 seconds and called time out to sit up a play. The kid had a wide open short shot for the Tigers but the ball would not find the bottom of the net and the Bulldogs held on for a big win. There was no announcement of the All-Tournament team but we got the information later.
Brince Crouch and Chance Asberry made the regular season All-District team and Crouch and Deckard made the All-Tournament team. Late news is the Red Boiling Springs Bulldogs will travel to open Region play and they will go to either Jackson County or Clay County Tonight Tuesday 24th. You need to check with the school on what time the game will start due to the weather conditions.
