The Virgin Valley High School Boys basketball team left their game in the locker room during the first half of play Monday night against Faith Lutheran High School. The ‘Dawgs could only manage four points in each of the first two quarters of play as they trailed the Crusaders 10-4 at the end of one quarter and 20-8 after one half of play. The “Dawgs faced a much larger disciplined team and seemed to be intimidated by their height during the first two periods of play. Poor passing and lack of penetration set the Bulldogs on their heels. Bulldog forward Tyson Teerlink scored six of the Bulldogs first eight points.
The Bulldog offense came to life and the defense decided to bang the boards in the third period. Teerlink and Garrett Leavitt hit three’s, Dee Bowler added two and Christian Aguirre hit two free throws to outscore the Crusaders 10-9 in the period. Tanner Kilmer made his presence known on the defensive boards as the Bulldogs battled the much larger Crusaders in the paint. The third period ended with the Crusaders up 30-18 over the ‘Dawgs. Point guard Leavitt sat out a portion of the period after picking up a technical foul.
The last period began with the Crusaders jumping out to a 38-20 lead before the Bulldogs started finding the range. The Bulldogs managed an 8-2 run closing the gap to 40-28 led by Bowler’s four points. The 'Dawgs, could have moved even closer but not for two quick turnovers on Bowler led fast breaks. Bowler had a two point bucket and Leavitt found the range on another three to end the Bulldogs scoring. The final score found the Bulldogs on the short end of a 44-33 score. Teerlink led the Bulldogs with 13 points followed by 10 from Bowler. Sam Stevens led the Crusaders with 16 points. It was a game of two halves as the Bulldogs could not get any offense going in the first but managed to stay with the Crusaders in the second half. “Chalk the game loss to first game jitters,“ said first year coach Sean FitzSimons. “We played a good disciplined team, who came out with more intensity than we did. We can’t win making 17 turnovers in the first half,“ added FitzSimons.
The Bulldogs next home game will be Monday December 3 against Silverado High School.