Lady Bulldogs Win;Boys lose to Van Buren County
Last Thursday night has been circled on the calendar for a long time by the Red Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs because the Lady Eagles were the team that ended the Lady Bulldogs season last year in sub-state action in a game that was played at Macon County’s gym because the gym at Red Boiling Springs does not meet the required seating capacity. The Lady Bulldogs still have a bitter taste about that loss.
The stare down during pre game warm-ups was oblivious and a sold out crowd got into this game knowing that a good start on the offensive side would get the crowd going. No one had to tell Lady Bulldog guard Chloe Powell just how important this game was as she knocked down a long three pointer and Senior guard Claire Fleming drove the base line for a bucket plus one. Sophomore Powell made another three pointer and the Lady Bulldogs opened the game on a 9-0 run.
The Lady Eagles made two steals and a three pointer to quiet the crowd to some extent but they left that Powell girl all alone and Chloe nailed another three pointer. Bre Thompson made a nice spin move for a basket and the first quarter ended with the Lady Bulldogs up 23-12.The Lady Eagles changed their defense to start the second quarter and both teams were playing great defense and we go to the break with the Lady Bulldogs leading 31-23.
Van Buren County was in trouble and they slowed the game down trying to play catch up taking smart shots and using their size advantage to score points in the paint. The Lady Bulldogs duo of Bailey Massengille and Kennedy Marshall claimed seven third quarter rebounds and the Lady Eagles never made a serious run in the second half as the Lady Bulldogs won going away 60-50.
A couple of stats that tell just how much the Lady Bulldogs wanted this game were the rebounding totals. The Lady Bulldogs pulled down 31 boards to 17 for the Lady Eagles and turnovers showed Van Buren with 24 while the home team had only 15.
The boys game was very close until the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs just ran out of energy having played the starting five most of the game. The Bulldogs lost to Van Buren County by a final score of 65-44.
The Bulldogs got nine first quarter points from Colton Copas and eight points from Aubrey Link plus seven points from Chris Hackney but the Eagles led at the break 33-26. The five starters played the entire first half. The Eagles turned a close game into a 47-35 lead going into the fourth quarter. Having a lot of injuries has cost the Bulldogs big time but Bulldog Head coach Andrew Mullinix has kept his kids in games but fatigue has really hurt the Bulldogs.
No word when Bulldog guard Joseph Birdwell will return to action and the junior high school season is still going strong. We will keep you posted as to when the Bulldogs will get some of these kids back.
