CRESTLINE — For the Crestline Bulldogs, it’s a matter of trust.
The Bulldogs won their second straight game Saturday night, using a 40-point first half to down Crestview, 74-61.
Crestline improved to 3-7 on the season and Crestview fell to 3-8.
For Crestline coach Tyler Sanders, the Bulldogs have not really trusted each other over the past few years but they are starting to now.
“As a coach, having coached against (the Bulldogs) the last two years, we as coaches, and I think a lot of coaches felt this way, they did not gel well and trust each other.
“That’s been our mission and that’s what we preached the last four or five months, and, the last two nights we grinded and we ended up winning,” Sanders added. “And it came down to trusting each other, making the extra pass. We have a lot of guys who want to score the basketball, but they are now thinking ‘if I make this pass, I trust that the ball will come back to me.’”
Sanders added, “They are starting to trust each other. They are making the extra pass. Guys who I think may have had beefs with one another in past years are starting to come together. And that is going to be the difference for the rest of the season.”
Junior Kaden Ronk poured in 25 points and senior Ty Clark added 22 as Crestline took control of the game in the second period and never relinquished the lead. Senior Max Anatra scored 13 as well.
After the Bulldogs trailed 18-16 after one period, they went on an 11-2 run midway through the second period to grab a 31-23 lead. Crestline outscored the Cougars, 7-3, over the final two minutes of the period to take a 40-29 lead at the half.
“We struggled to make shots in the second period,” Crestview coach David Pellerite said. “When you give up 24 points in the second period it’s hard to win basketball games.”
Pellerite added that playing better defense would also be a shot in the arm to his offense.
“We had our backs up against the wall, we tried to get back into it on the defensive end,” Pellerite said. “We played really well in spurts. The message that we are trying to drive home is that it has to be 32 minutes. In the fourth period, we were solid and gave ourselves a chance.”
Evan Hamilton led the Cougars with 17 points and Brevin King added 16. Crestview did manage to cut the Crestline lead from 19, 55-36, down to eight, 55-47, with 5:34 left in the game.
But it was Ronk and Clark who staved off the Crestview charge. Ronk knocked down six points down the stretch and Clark added four as the Bulldogs never were challenged the rest of the way.
Sanders said that this week was the best week of practice his team has had, and they went 2-0.
“I think that they understand that if they continue to work hard, they will have success,” Sanders said. “So as coaches, we’re going to push them and work hard and we expect them to accept the challenge.”
Sanders added that Crestline’s 1-7 start to the season was primarily because his team hasn’t gelled yet.
“One of my mentors used to tell me ‘Dude, it’s not happening overnight.’ We got off to a rough start,” Sanders said. “Was it the start I wanted? Absolutely not. There were a lot of games out there that we should have won.
“A little bit of that is on the coach and a little bit is on the players. They keep grinding and they are beginning to understand that you have to work very hard in practice.”