(BOYS) Churchill Bulldogs defeat Dover Bay Dolphins in their first win of tourney

Written by Jeff McCutcheon, Handsworth Grad ‘06

Round two of the No Regrets Basketball tournament has the Churchill Bulldogs taking on the Dover Bay Dolphins. Unfortunately both teams are coming off opening round loses but that should not take away from what should be a great game.

Churchill came out spicy hot on both ends of the court creating a nice 10-0 lead early on in the game. Not for a lack of effort but the boys from the island really weren’t able to get much going at all in the first quarter. They got similar looks to the Bulldogs but they just weren’t able to hit their shots and unfortunately for them Churchill was. After the first quarter the Dolphins trail 22-7.

It would be an ‘against the current’ battle for these Dolphins but big man Anoop Bassi did his best to get his team fired up in the paint. He had his hands full guarding Bulldog’s L. Frigault who must have had 3 inches on anyone else on the court but until this point he has done a great job. As the quarter went along the tides began to change. Dover Bay held Churchill to 8 points all quarter while putting up 19 of their own. The score at the half was 30-26 Bulldogs.

Less than 1 minute in to the second half and we had a tie game! These boys from the island must be commended for this 15 point comeback. It looked like they had no business in this one but they battled their way back in a very impressive manner. Like Quinn Keast, they never quit. It has been a full team effort for them but Brad Lansdell has been leading the way with his quick dribbling and nifty passes. Churchill did a very nice job all game rolling nearly full line changes ensuring everyone got some playing time and their legs were always fresh. These fresh legs came up big at the end of the quarter putting them up 49-43.

Fourth quarter time and we had ourselves a good one! Tie game with 9 minutes left. With 6 minutes left the Dolphins had themselves their first lead of the game. They were flying all over the place but mostly in the paint picking up offensive rebound after offensive rebound. The Dogs refused to make it easy though. Each possession turned into a battle and the lead changed multiple times in the last 5 minutes of the game. In the end it was Bulldogs who were able to hang on to a 72-66 win.

Thanks to both teams for a great effort and big thanks to Dover Bay for making the trip from the island.

Good luck the rest of the way and No Regrets!