The Anton Lady Dawgs and Bulldogs basketball programs both hosted each respective Wellman Union team this past Friday, with the Lady Dawgs winning 40-31 and the Bulldogs winning 49-46.
The Lady Dawgs led the entirety of the game in their win against Wellman Union, but it was an extremely gritty performance where they relied heavily on their defense.
Three-point shots weren’t falling for the Lady Dawgs, which is usually a strength, and they also were being outrebounded, so they had to dig deep for the win.
Lady Dawgs Head Basketball Coach Tami Wilson noted after the game her team was “lackadaisical” at times and didn’t seem ready to play after they had an easy week of practice in an effort to recover from injuries. But her main takeaway was that they didn’t quit and they kept attacking to get the win.
Once they got the lead, they anchored down defensively and never looked back, forcing Wellman Union out of any sort of offensive rhythm. Scorers for the Lady Dawgs in the win included Alisiah Alafa with 14 points, Miliana Castillo and Naliyah Cooper both with 10 points, Liberty Peek with four points and Alyssa Mancias with two points.
The win improves the Lady Dawgs to 13-6 overall and 3-0 in district play. On the boy’s side of things, their win over Wellman Union improves them to 11-7 overall and 1-0 in district play.
The Bulldogs win came down to the final seconds, in a back-and-forth brawl, surrounded by an emotionally charged crowd.
Wellman Union domi- nated in the first quarter and took a two-point lead into halftime, but the Bulldogs would outscore them 16-8 in the third quarter, which was the turning point of the game.
Wellman Union thrived off defensive pressure in the first half, which the Bulldogs would turn on its head by bringing their own intensity. And according to Bulldogs Head Basketball Coach Ezekiel Clay, nothing changed, they just remembered their game plan.
“I want to do our game plan. I want people to adjust to us, not us adjust to them. We’re small and fast, and we try to use that to our advantage,” Coach Clay said. “At halftime, I saw the other team arguing and tired, sitting with their hands on their hips, so we wanted to capitalize on that. So as long as we’re running, pushing the ball, getting straight on defense, that’s where we’re at our best. So that was the focus at halftime, it’s nothing we didn’t say beforehand. It was just a reminder.”
They executed their identity down to a tee in the second half to secure the win, and while it was an allaround team win, there were still some great individual performances.
Scorers for the Bulldogs included Shooter Campos with 19 points behind two three-pointers made, Zian Martinez with 15 points behind three three-pointers made, Xavi Avalos with seven points, Isaiah Alafa with six points and Caleb Carlock with two points.
And along with his seven points, Avalos also made the play of the game, taking a charge to put the game on ice and secure the victory in the closing seconds.
For context, Wellman Union had a post equal to Avalos in height but much bigger in physical size, who had scored 21 points primarily in the paint.
So, when he went for another move in the paint to tie up the game, Avalos slid in front of him and drew an offensive foul, which was to Coach Clay’s surprise.
“He never gets in front of guys and takes charges. Xavi’s tall and skinny; he wants to block shots. And that big guy on their team is physical, so I told him ‘Dude, stay on your feet,’” Coach Clay said. “And so, he did. I couldn’t believe it honestly; it was huge. I gave him a hug right after that and took him off the floor to congratulate him.”
That moment wrapped up a great pair of games and wins for Anton, and following their wins, both teams will be back in action early in the week for yet another district matchup, as they host Cotton Center.
Then on Friday, they’ll travel to Whitharral, as both teams should be playing for first place in 1A District 5.
The girls start at 6:15 p.m. and the boys start at 7:30 p.m.