Bulldogs thrash Kosh, lose to Ava


Photo by Karla Smith Gainesville’s Jake Leeker goes up for a layup as Ava players watch Thursday night as the Bulldogs hosted the Bears in a hot rivalry game. Ava won the game, 56-48. Leeker finished with 9 points.

The Gainesville Bulldogs put an old-fashioned walloping on the Koshkonong Bluejays in high school basketball action this past week, and lost a close one to Ava.

The Bulldogs came out firing on Dec. 7, outscoring the Bluejays 39-5 in the first quarter en route to a 111-33 blowout over Kosh.

Jake Leeker led all scorers with 25 points, followed by Bryce Hambelton with 19 and Easton McGee with 17.

Also scoring for Gainesville were:

Landry Jenkins with 9, Camden Evans with 8, Wyatt Alms with 8, Grayden Rowbotham with 8, Carter Wise with 7, Andrew Hambelton with 6 and Nathan Kiger and Jarrett Hogan with 2 each.

“We jumped out to an early lead and I felt like we were able to maintain a fairly organized level of play,” said Gainesville coach Morris Jenkins. “Sometimes in these kind of games teams will get a little sloppy with their play, but to our group’s credit, they maintained a good team concept.”

Gainesville also won the JV matchup with the Bluejays 58-29 with Jarrett Hogan and Garrett Tabor leading the offensive charge with 15 points each. Nathan Kiger and Harmon Johns added 13 a piece while Trey Pendergrass chipped in 2 points.

Two days later, the Bulldogs hosted the Ava Bears and fell in a ‘nail-biter 56-48.

Bryce Hambelton led Gainesville with 11 points. Other Gainesville scorers were Landry Jenkins with 10, Carter Wise with 9, Jake Leeker with 9, Easton McGee with 7 and Wyatt Alms with 2.

“The game was close and both teams competed really hard,” said coach Jenkins. “We were out-rebounded and weren’t able to get to the free throw line very often, which are two areas we must be better at in games such as this one.”

Ava also won the JV game, 55-44.

Harmon Johns scored 18 to lead the Bulldogs, while Jarrett Hogan added 10. Garret Taber scored 8, Nathan Kiger added 4 and Grayden Rowbotham netted 2 to round out the Gainesville scoring.

On Dec. 4, Gainesville beat Hollister 60-54 in the Forsyth Tournament.

Jake Leeker dropped 20 points to lead the Bulldog attack, followed by Bryce Hambelton with 16 and Landry Jenkins with 14. Easton McGee netted 8 while Wyatt Alms chipped in 2 for Gainesville.

Bryce Hambelton also pulled down 10 rebounds to give himself a double-double for the ‘Dogs.

Ozark County Times

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