The Bulldogs 5th Grade Boys defeated the Lawrenceburg Tigers 31-30 on Sunday afternoon at South Dearborn Elementary to claim the crown of the 2nd Annual Tim Tyler Memorial Basketball Shootout Championship.
In a rematch of first round competition on Saturday, where the Tigers edged the young Bulldogs by 4, the Bulldogs used a late first half surge and a 3 pointer by Sam Johnson at the buzzer to lead the Tigers by 9, 21-12 at halftime. Lawrenceburg kept chipping away at the lead throughout the second half on solid full court pressure and timely shooting. Conner Drake made one of two free throws with 23 seconds left to put Batesville up by 4. A three pointer by Lawrenceburg cut the deficit to 1 with 10 seconds left. The young Bulldogs committed a turnover on the inbounds pass resulting in the Tigers to use their last time out with 6 seconds remaining. The Tigers were able to get a pressured shot up from just inside the top of the arc that came up short setting off a celebration by the strong Batesville crowd. Johnson led the Bulldogs in scoring with 10 points on 5-9 shooting. Gus Prickel tallied 7 and Chris Lewis 6. Bradley Wirth was solid on the boards with 7 rebounds and Johnson added 5. Gus Prickel added 3 assists.
In the semi-final earlier in the day the Bulldogs got off to a very slow start hitting only 2 of their first 20 shots before setting down against the Milan Indians. The Bulldogs also used a late first half surge to lead 17-10 at the break. Defense fueled the surge as the squad pressurized the Indians into turnovers using their full court press and hitting their last five shots of the half. It was all Bulldogs in the second half and the Bulldogs pulled away to win 41-24. Prickle led the team in scoring with 13, Lewis added 11 and Conner Drake was solid inside with 9 points and 9 rebounds. Wirth added 8 rebounds, while Lewis totaled 8 caroms and 3 assists sending the Bulldogs to the championship.
In Saturday’s play in a tight contest from beginning to end the Lawrenceburg Tigers nipped the Bulldogs 31-27. Turnovers were the difference as the Bulldogs committed 20 turnovers and as a result the Tigers were able to get up 13 more shot opportunities. Batesville was also a paltry 4-15 from the charity stripe. Lewis led the squad in scoring with 13, Lewis tallied 6 and Wirth was a beast on the boards with 12 rebounds.
In game two of the tournament’s first day the Bulldogs jumped all over the South Dearborn Knights leading 31-11 at half time and winning by a comfortable final margin of 53-20. Johnson led the team in scoring with 12, Conner Drake tallied 9, Prickel 8 and 3rd grader, Cayden Drake tallied 7. Wirth had 7 boards and Prickel 4 assists.
The Bulldogs finished a very successful season (29-12).
Courtesy of Bulldogs Coach Paul Drake.