Bulldogs blow out Tigers

Bulldogs blow out Tigers

Despite a tightly contested first few minutes of play, the Earle Bulldogs ran past the Armorel Tigers

sports@theeveningtimes.com

The Earle Bulldogs (8-3 overall, 4-0 conference) dominated the Armorel Tigers (4-8, 2-3) last night, winning 84-40.

Electricity filled an action packed first quarter in which the Tigers traded baskets with the Bulldogs for the first 4:20 of the game. With 3:40 left to play in the first and his team trailing 14-13, a frustrated Bulldogs Head Coach Billy Murray called a time-out.

The Bulldogs came out of the time-out with a new fire and intensity which led the team on a 12-5 run to end the opening quarter.

Murray attributes the run to his team’s athleticism.

“Our athletic ability wore them down,” Murray said.

“They tried run with us and they couldn’t run.

They wore them down. I attribute that to our pace of the game.”

The Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas the rest of the game and Armorel struggled to keep pace.

Earle won the second quarter 23-7 thanks in large part to the efforts of Travon Doolittle who scored eight of his team high 20 points in the quarter.

Despite already having a 48-26 lead at the half, the Earle starters remained in the game throughout a third quarter which the Bulldogs outscored Armorel 20-10. Part of the thought process behind continuing to play the starters was to get some of the players, like Gerry Bohannon, more playing time.

Bohannon, the Bulldogs starting quarterback during football season, played in only his second game with the basketball team as he has been recovering from a lengthy season on the gridiron. Murray believes that Bohannon brings a skill-set to the team which the Bulldogs have been missing.

“I’ve been playing with five guards and he brings a post game,” Murray said.

“We’ve got (in him) a rebounder, a shot blocker and somebody that can post up. He brings another dimension to the game.”

Bohannon finished the game with 12 points and 4 rebounds. Dontrell Johnson led the Bulldogs in rebounding with 8 boards while also contributing 4 points to the contest.

Kevon Smith and Travarrius Sanders also played key roles in Earle’s landslide victory, contributing 12 and 9 points respectively.

Although the Bulldogs looked very impressive in the lopsided victory, Murray still believes his team needs a lot of work in order to reach their goal of playing in the state championship.

“Our man-to-man defense needs a lot of work,” Murray said. “We’ve got a long way to go before we get into state championship form. We’re not good enough to win the state tournament right now. So, I’m not going to let (this win) go to their ego.”

The Earle Bulldogs are scheduled to take to the hardwood next against the Episcopal Wildcats (6-3, 21) in a tournament style matchup on December 28th.

By Collins Peeples