There was no doubt in their minds as to what the outcome was going to be, at least for the Reeds Spring Wolves who played host to the Gainesville Bulldogs Friday night. As they saw it, nobody was going to beat them in their house, especially the Bulldogs.
The Wolves, behind senior guard Jarod Cole's 23 points, went out to down the Dogs 63-50. The victory boosted Reeds Spring record to 7-6 on the year. Gainesville fell to 2-10.
"Our kids played really hard, but we expect them to," Wolves coach Barry Yocum said. " We got off to a slow start offensively tonight but their efforts on the boards got us over the hump and in back in sync."
Reeds Spring jumped out in front of Gainesville 13-8 after opening frame play and extended their lead to eleven at the half 26-15. But Gainesville kept battling and pulled to within seven, 28-21, at the six minute mark of the third peirod on a Braden Voss bucket. But that would be as close as they could get as the Wolves refused to fold.
Reed Springs went on to edge the Bulldogs in the the second half 37-35 to pick up the 63-50 win.
Besides Cole's 23 points the Wolves also got solid offensive performances from Adam Taylor with 14 and Logen Plumb with 11. Joel Gertson added 9. As a team they hit 71 per cent of their free throws connecting on 15 of 21 attempts.
Aaron Swanson led all Bulldog scorers with 22 points. Braden Voss also had a big night lighting up the boards for 12. The Dogs made good on only 12 of 23 free throws, 52 per cent.
Although struggling this year the Bulldogs haven't given up.
"Right now we're just trying to find a way to win. We might be 2-10 on the year but our kids keep fighting," Bulldog coach Matt Powell said. I'm really very proud of their efforts."
"Aaron and Braden, two of our senior leaders, played especially well tonight," the Bulldog coach said. "But they they show up to play every night."
Coach Yocum was equally proud of his Wolves. "We got off to a slow start offensively tonight," Yocum said. "But our kids settled in to play some great defense until we got the offense going. Sometimes things don't always go well and you just have to grind them out until you get back on track. That's what our kids did tonight."
Gainesville 8 – 7 – 12 – 23 — 50
Reeds Spring 13 – 13 – 15 – 22 — 63
Scoring: Gainesville: Aaron Swanson 22, Braden Voss 12, Brodie Chapman 7, Trelor Estes 6, Jordan Evans 3.
Reeds Spring: Jarod Cole 23, Adam Taylor 14, Logen Plumb 11, Joel Gertson 9, Austin Bradfield 4, Lane Carroll 2.
