Coming off their first loss of the season to DeQueen on Friday, the Bulldogs would travel to Fort Smith, Southside to face to Mavericks. Despite the Maverick fans being excited about their new arena, the Bulldogs fans traveled well and were able to match the energy in the stadium. The Mavericks were one of the seven losses the Dogs had last season, so they were looking to avenge their loss.
The Bulldogs opened in a zone defense which has come to be the normal this season for the Dogs. The top of the zone was manned by Ethan Mayberry and Trenton Hunt with Kason Moudy, “Fish” McConnell, and Camdon Holcomb playing the back. Camdon Holcomb won the tip for the Dogs and Trenton Hunt quickly put in a layup and got a foul call to complete the three-point play. Southside would begin to press the Dogs after their first made basket, which prompted Coach Atchley to bring in the elite ball-handler, Lidge Stinson, who has been recovering from an illness. Waldron was able to beat the press, but at the price of speeding up the game which is exactly what the Mavericks wanted. The speed the game was played at made Waldron turn the ball over many times. Waldron would only score two more baskets in the 1st quarter from a Holcomb layup and a McConnell put-back. The Dogs ended the 1st quarter down 7-18.
Hunt started the 2nd quarter off with a three-point bucket. One of the benefits for Waldron that came about because of the Southside’s press was getting to the free-throw line. The Bulldogs got into the bonus early in the 2nd quarter and were able to shoot 8 free throws. This slowed down the game a lot and allowed the Dogs to get back in it. Holcomb followed up Hunt’s 3 pointer with a 3 point play himself the old-fashioned way. This brought the Dogs within 7 with a score of 16-23. After the Mavericks would make back-to-back layups, Stinson would nail a pull-up jumper to send the score into the half at 19-27 Maverick advantage.
In the 3rd quarter, the Dogs did not have it together offensively. Their only points this quarter came off free throws. They threw the ball away and allowed Southside to get easy baskets in transition. Southside would go on an 15-5 run in the 3rd to make the score going into the 4th 24-42.
To begin the 4th the Dogs gained some quick momentum as they went on an 8-0 run highlighted by a Stinson 3-pointer and a Chris Lopez transition layup. The Dogs began to full-court press some as well and extended their zone defense in the half court. Waldron forced a couple of turnovers and was able to get to the free-throw line, but the Dogs shot poorly from the charity stripe. Stinson added another 3-pointer from a steal to make the score 39-51, but that was as close as the Dogs would get. Southside began to beat the press and score easy baskets in the paint. Trenton Hunt would add another 3-pointer and Holcomb would get an and-one to fall, but the Dogs just could not get the stops that they needed on the defensive end. The Mavericks would end up beating the Dogs with a final score of 49-63.
Camdon Holcomb led the scoring for the Dogs with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Trenton Hunt added 12 points and Lidge Stinson added 11.
This loss makes the Bulldogs record 5-2. Their next game will be in Mena against the Bearcats on November 30th. Junior Girls will begin the action at 4:30 followed by Junior Boys, Senior Girls, and Senior Boys.
