Bulldogs win Cabool Tourney
The Gainesville Bulldogs fought their way through the Cabool Holiday Tournament last week, beating Couch, Thayer and Licking to set the stage in the championship game against a formidable Dora Falcons team who defeated Plato, Lesterville and Summersville to get to the championship game.
In all, 16 teams made up the tournament roster, but only one could win the championship - and that would be the Gainesville Bulldogs. Gainesville won the battle with Dora, 55-47.
"Dora is as athletic as any team we have seen all season," said Gainesville's coach Aaron Dalton. "The boys did a very good job of winning four very different types of games in four days."
Dakota Nash led Gainesville in scoring against Dora with 19 points, followed by Paxton Smith with 13. Cody Garlough and Logan Strong each had 9 points for the Bulldogs, while Sawyer Jeckstadt netted 5. Nash and Garlough each grabbed 9 rebounds.
Falcons' coach Rick Luna said his team just "ran out of gas."
"Gainesville hit five three-pointers in the first half, taking a 30-20 lead into halftime," Luna said. "We didn't give up any three's the second half, but we just ran out of gas. We tried to force the tempo to get back it the game, but we could never get closer than 4. Four games in four days finally caught up to us."
Leading scorers for Dora were Jesse Morgan with 15, Jacob Pardo 10 and Billy Sexton with 7.
Gainesville clobbered Couch in the opening round of the tournament, 53-33. Dakota Nash poured in 28 points and grabbed 8 boards, while Logan Strong had 10 points for the Bulldogs. Paxton Smith and Cody Garlough each had 6 points.
In a low-scoring contest with Thayer in the second round, Gainesville won 38-22. Dakota Nash led all scorers with 16.
In a shootout with Licking, The Bulldogs held their own against the much bigger front court of Licking and won the contest, 61-54. The two teams were tied at halftime and Licking had a two-point advantage after three, but a 20-11 run in the fourth quarter gave Gainesville the W.
Dakota Nash had 20 points to lead Gainesville, followed by Cody Garlough and Sawyer Jeckstadt with 12 each. Jeckstadt also grabbed 12 boards. Logan Strong netted 8 points for Gainesville, while Paxton Smith chipped in 7. Kyle Clayton rounded out the scorers with 2 points.
Nash was named tournament MVP.
The Falcons cruised past Plato 64-49 to open the tournament, and then defeated Lesterville, 60-50 in the second round.
In a semifinals matchup with a tough Summersville team, the Falcons used a 20-10 third quarter to come from behind and edge the Wildcats, 68-64 to propel them to the championship game with Gainesville.
Individual scoring statistics from Dora were not available.
Gainesville, now 9-2, will host its own tournament Jan. 10 and will square off against the Bakersfield Lions.
Meanwhile, the Dora Falcons (8-2) will travel to Norwood on Friday.
The Gainesville Bulldogs won the Cabool Holiday Tournament.
Gainesville's Paxton Smith shoots over Dora defenders.
