Bulldogs fight past Lions

Bulldogs fight past Lions

A huge fourth quarter and individual performance from Travon Doolittle carries the Bulldogs past the England Lions, Friday night

sports@theeveningtimes.com

The Earle Bulldogs (22-6) ended their regular season Friday night, traveling to England, Arkansas and gutting out an 83-81 victory over the England Lions (175).

Catching fire for 30 points in the final stanza, the Bulldogs overcame a 56-53 deficit to start the fourth quarter.

The 30 points in the fourth period represented the Bulldogs largest singlequarter point total and gave the Earle team more points than they had previously scored in the second and third quarters combined (28).

Bulldogs Head Coach Billy Murray believes his team’s desire to win carried the team in the end, despite questionable officiating.

“They wanted it more and just played harder,” Murray declared. “My players went to another level. They raised the bar. Honestly, I didn’t expect us to win with the way the officiating was going. Friday night in England, that was the worst of my lifetime as a coach, spectator and player. My entire life of basketball I’ve never seen officiating like that.”

Travon Doolittle blazed the way for the Bulldogs in the victory, pumping in 37 points. While owning the inside portion of the court with 22 points scored in the paint, Doolittle connected on 13 of 16 shots from the field. Doolittle’s success came from many fast-break opportunities, according to Murray.

“We put the ball in his hands and he was able to attack,” Murray explained. “We were on the fast break and he was able to run wide open. He drew a lot of contact on those fast breaks and went to the free throw line a lot.”

Kevon Smith also finished with a double digit scoring effort for the Earle team, pushing through 17 points and barley missed a doubledouble with 9 rebounds.

The Bulldogs relied heavily on the Doolittle/Smith combo against the Lions, as no other Earle player scored in double digits. Dontrel Johnson finished third on the team in scoring, chipping in 9 points.

B.J. Murray also played a huge role for the Bulldogs, while only scoring 8 points but dishing out 5 assists.

Not to be lost in the highscoring affair, the Bulldogs defense played a huge part in the victory.

In a game where every basket mattered, Earle scored 28 points off of turnovers and accounted for 11 total steals. However, Murray would like to see even more defensive intensity going forward.

“I didn’t think we forced enough turnovers,” Murray stated. “I think our defense was lacking. Both teams gave up a lot of turnovers. They just gave it up more often than we did. We handled the pressure a little better than did.”

The Bulldogs end the regular season on a seven-game winning streak. But, the Earle defense will need to step up if the team wishes to continue their winning ways in the district tournament, according to Murray.

“Friday night we played well offensively but allowed to many easy baskets,” Murray said. “We’ll be alright for the district tournament but we’re not where I want us to be. There’s going to be some tough teams in our district tournament.”

Game times for 2A South District Tournament will be announced Friday.

By Collins Peeples