Dogs dust two Bobcats

The Wadley Bulldogs bit through two Bobcats in Woodland and Beulah, but fell to area foe Edward Bell last week.

Wadley trounced Woodland, 65-33, last Thursday in Wadley, earning its first win since the Christmas break.

Wadley led Woodland 15-7 at the end of the first quarter and increased its lead to 30-15 at halftime. The Bulldogs poured on 35 second-half points though, cruising to victory over the still winless Woodland Bobcats.

“We played better than the first time against Woodland,” Wadley head coach Randy Sparks said. “We were able to score inside better and that was the biggest thing for us.”

Wadley utilized its size advantage by getting the ball to Jeremiah Thomas, Calvin Johnson and Martevan McKissic on the inside, sealing the victory for the Bulldogs.

Johnson led the offensive effort with 18 points and 8 rebounds. McKissic contributed 16 points and 9 rebounds while Thomas added 14 points and 9 rebounds.

After defeating county rival Woodland, Wadley earned a win over another group of Bobcats in Beulah by a score of 57-25.

Sparks said the game against Beulah was a particularly encouraging one because of the defensive effort.

“We may have played our best game defensively against Beulah,” Sparks said. “We were able to limit their best player to six points this time around.”

By the end of the first quarter, Wadley held a 14-5 lead over Beulah and increased the lead to 32-10 by halftime.

Wadley continued to shut down the Beulah offensive in the second half, outscoring the Bobcats 25-15.

“We didn’t play too well offensively, but when you hold a team to 25 points you don’t have to play too well offensively,” Sparks said.

Thomas led Wadley with 17 points and McKissic added 14 points in the win over Beulah.

After downing Beulah for the second time this season, Wadley fell to a tough Edward Bell team at home, 71-63.

Edward Bell led 17-14 at the end of the first quarter and increased its lead to 38-28 at halftime. Going into the fourth quarter, Wadley trailed 53-42, and couldn’t manage to make up the difference.

“We went from our best defensive performance Saturday, to our worst defensive performance Monday night,” Sparks said. “Not to take anything away from Edward Bell, but we just didn’t guard them well. They presented some problems for us and we couldn’t keep up.”

Thomas led the Bulldogs with 20 points with Johnson chipping in 19 points and McKissic adding another 10 points.

Wadley is 10-3 overall with a 3-2 area record.

With Wadley earning the number-one seed in the county tournament this week, the Bulldogs will once again face Woodland in the opening round of the tournament.

“We’re just going to approach it one game at a time,” Sparks said. “Woodland plays hard against us and can present some problems too. We’re at an advantage in size, but Stephen Strain always has a big game against us. We have to limit his touches if we want to get to the second round.”