The 5th Grade Batesville Bulldogs basketball team traveled to South Ripley High School on Sunday afternoon and captured the Dirt Road Basketball League Tournament Championship in convincing fashion.
The team entered Championship Sunday as the number one seed and had to win three games in succession to defend their crown.
In game one of the day, the Bulldogs jumped all over East Central Black leading 30-2 at half time and cruising to a 45-9 victory.
The game one victory gave the Bulldogs a chance against the host, South Ripley Raiders. The contest was close after the first quarter of play, but a Bulldog 15-2 run put the youngsters up 21-6 at the half, where they would pull away for a comfortable 38-15 victory to advance to the championship game vs Connersville.
The Spartans and Bulldogs faced off earlier in the month in the Auxiliary Gym at Batesville in game that went to the wire with the Bulldogs prevailing. After the teams traded baskets the first few minutes, the Bulldogs simply imposed their will and ran away from the Spartans for a 39-21 win to earn the back to back championship.
Scoring for the Bulldogs in the three game set were Cayden Drake with 31 points, William Kuisel 19, Brayden Maple 17, Caleb Mohr 12, Landon Raver 11, Jaiden Kuria 10, Trenton Jordan 8, Owen Enneking and Lincoln Garrett 5 each and Ethan Schneider 4.
The Bulldogs (26-3) will be in action next weekend when they travel to Bloomington to participate in the Midwest Youth Tournament Play Hard tournament against solid competition from Southern Indiana.
Congratulations!!! Go Bulldogs!!!
Courtesy of Bulldogs Coach Paul Drake.