Bulldogs fall to Gospel Light in semi-finals

Posted February 23, 2010 at 5:56 pm and filed under Sports, WCA.

By Dave Thomas
Citizen Journalist

After closing out the regular season with consecutive conference wins, the top-seeded Bulldogs sauntered into the 2010 NCCSA State Basketball Tournament at Gospel Light Christian with their heads held high and a confident bounce in their step.

Wake Christian Academy senior Reece Thomas picks up two for the Bulldogs against Faith Christian of Ramseur

Wake Christian Academy senior Reece Thomas picks up two for the Bulldogs against Faith Christian of Ramseur Thursday, Feb. 18. ANNETTE TAYLOR, STONETAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY

But their quarterfinal match-up against fourth-seed Faith Christian of Ramseur Thursday, Feb. 18 quickly reeled them back to reality.

Up 24-18 at the half, Faith Christian stormed back to outscore the Bulldogs 33-27 in the second half to force overtime. But thanks to some inspired play from junior Hunter Garwood, who had five points in the extra period, the Bulldogs edged Faith Christian 61-54 to move on to face the winner of the Wilmington-Gospel Light game, scheduled for later that night.

“Hunter had a couple of big shots,” Coach Will White said. “He was huge in overtime and at the end of regulation.”

Arriving at the gym Friday, Feb. 19, the Bulldogs discovered they would face defending state champion Gospel Light, which bested third-seeded Wilmington Christian the night before.

The Lions finished their regular season with an impressive 14-4 record and seemed poised to make a run at defending their title with an experienced starting line-up that included four seniors.

“When you’ve got that many [good players] and you can’t focus on just one or two, that’s real tough,” White said of his team’s challenge to stop all of Gospel Light’s players before the game.

Playing host to the tournament this year, the Lions also had the home court advantage on their side, which just added to the list of worries for the Bulldogs.

“We’ve got a lot against us,” White said. “They like to run and with the home crowd, they could see a two-point lead go to 10 in a hurry.”

With the deck stacked against them, the Bulldogs would need to play their best game of the season if they were going to move on to face Alamance in the finals. Unfortunately, a state title just wasn’t in the cards for the Bulldogs this year.

After winning the opening tipoff, the Bulldogs needed almost a full two minutes to get their first points on the board, a long three from junior Brandon Thomas. That three would prove to be Thomas’ only bucket of the night, as he hit just one of five from the floor to finish with four points. That three would also end up being one of only two long balls the Bulldogs would make all night as they finished a dismal 2-17 from beyond the arc.

In the paint, the Bulldogs had more luck, but it didn’t come as often or from as many angles as they would have liked. Brandon Burke had 12 points in the first half, but senior Wheeler Dupree was the only other Bulldog to make a field goal before halftime.

The Lions enjoyed much more success in the paint on their way to a 29-27 halftime lead. Even with no big man, the Lions dominated in the paint, shooting 10-19, most of which were high percentage shots under the basket. Out-rebounding the Bulldogs 17-11 in the first half, the Lions held all the cards and kept the Bulldogs from gaining any momentum going into the locker room.

“We didn’t rebound, offensively or defensively, and we didn’t drive when we had the opportunity,” a frustrated Hunter Garwood said after the game.

Fighting all the way, the Bulldogs seemed almost powerless to stop baskets from underneath in the second half. The Lions patiently swung the ball around the Bulldogs’ man-to-man defense until someone made a cut and was able to gain separation underneath. With fast and accurate passing, the Lions pounced on any chance for the underneath basket. That efficiency and almost mistake-free basketball helped the Lions outscore the Bulldogs 17-9 in the third quarter and take a commanding 10-point lead into the final period.

With the referees calling an extremely tight game, the Bulldogs should have pushed the ball inside more instead of relying on the outside jumper.

But even with some success from Burke in the paint in the second half, the Bulldogs couldn’t will themselves back into the game. The Bulldogs managed to pull within five with less than three minutes remaining on some heads-up play from junior guard Reece Thomas.

But on the defensive side, perhaps in frustration at being unable to stop the Lions underneath, the Bulldogs kept fouling and sent the Lions to the charity stripe time and time again. Shooting 63 percent on 21-33 from the line (compared to just 12-20 for the Bulldogs), the Lions were able to maintain control and put a muzzle on any late attempts at a comeback by the Bulldogs, cruising into the finals with a 63-51 win.

The Lions went on to lose to Alamance in the championship game Saturday, Feb. 20, ending their hopes of back-to-back titles.

In the consolation game Saturday morning, the Bulldogs faced Vandalia Christian, who were destroyed 55-30 by the soon-to-be state champs in Alamance Christian Friday night. The Bulldogs’ defensive woes continued as they were scorched 71-64 by Vandalia, taking a disappointing fourth place in the tournament.

Related articles:

Print This Print This
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

We believe that reader interaction is a valuable feature on our website and aim to foster an online community that is enriching, robust and respectful. We reserve the right to remove any comment that contains profanity or obscenity; is an advertisement for services or a solicitation of funds; contains a personal attack or a threat; or is unrelated to the story.