The Anton Bulldogs and Lady Dawgs basketball teams both hosted and defeated each respective Paducah team this past Tuesday, with the Bulldogs winning, 46-37, and the Lady Dawgs winning, 62-14.
The Lady Dawgs started the night with their 48-point win over the Lady Dragons, led by Alyssa Mancias with 21 points on 9/15 shooting, adding seven steals, two assists and one rebound.
Other standouts included Alisiah Alafa with 10 points, six steals, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and Ally Ramirez with 10 points, four steals, three rebounds and an assist, and Miliana Castillo with eight points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
They were amongst nine total scorers for the Lady Dawgs, which was largely because of their bench getting heavy minutes in the matchup, providing much needed rest for their starters before district play.
The win improves the Lady Dawgs to 10-6 overall this season as they head into district play over the weekend.
For the Bulldogs, it was a much grittier and hardfought matchup, which Bulldogs Head Basketball Coach Ezekiel Clay spoke on.
“Last night’s game was really a test of toughness. Everyone on the team was battling something, whether it be a stomach bug, sinuses or just holiday sluggishness,” Coach Clay said. “It’s hard to have two weeks off in the middle of the season and be expected to come back like you haven’t been sitting around eating junk all day, every day.”
That adversity the Bulldogs faced made for what Coach Clay called an ugly basketball game of turnovers, fouls and missed shots, but his team was ultimately able to grind out the win over the Dragons.
Scorers for the Bulldogs included Shooter Campos with 21 points, Zian Martinez with nine points, Xavi Avalos and Caleb Carlock both with six points, and Joey Jimenez with four points.
Following the win, the Bulldogs are now 10-6 overall, and they’ll play their final non-district game over the weekend.