Union-Bulletin

By BEN WENTZ

of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

WAITSBURG — Dayton controlled its game with Waitsburg-Prescott Friday night from beginning to end.

Wyatt Frame scored 20 points and Cruz Ramirez added 12 to lead the Bulldogs to a 53-33 Southeast 2B boys basketball victory.

Dalton Estes was the only W-P player to break into double digits, scoring 14 points to lead an offense that struggled to find open looks.

Waitsburg-Prescott opened with a layup and pair of free throws from Estes to give W-P a 4-1 lead three minutes into the game.

But Dayton closed the half on a 12-2 run highlighted by seven points from Cruz Ramirez, who stepped out to hit a spot-up trey, to end the first quarter up 13-6.

The teams traded scores until 5:01 left in the first half when W-P coach Tavis Crittenden was called for a technical after reacting to a foul.

Dayton’s Isaiah Lambert and Zach Waggoner hit all four free throws to give the Bulldogs a 22-10 lead.

“That hurt,” Crittenden said. “That just took a lot of momentum out of us. I think (Waitsburg-Prescott) got discouraged after that and I take full responsibility. I let them down.”

Dayton ended the half up 26-12 after a 3-pointer from Lambert and a free throw from Johnny Sanchez.

The Bulldogs led by as much as 15, 32-17, with 4:54 left in the third but W-P closed the quarter on a 6-1 run to narrow their deficit to 10 going into the fourth.

Dayton coach Roy Ramirez: “We came out just a little bit not as intense as we were in the first half, allowed them to get within 10. We just had to call that timeout and remind them a little bit of what we need to do. They responded and did a good job and it was a good win.”

Respond Dayton did.

The Bulldogs went on a 19-7 run over the length of the fourth quarter to end the game in dominating fashion.

“Defensively I thought we did great,” Ramirez said. “We could always do a little better blocking out, but that’s just high-school basketball. I thought all the guys did a great job.”

Dayton improves to 5-11 and 2-5 in SE2B play while W-P falls to 3-13 and 1-6.

“We’ve been there in every game,” Ramirez said of hit team’s record. “We’ve led at halftime in most of the games except one, or been tied, so for me it’s just a matter of we have to finish the game.

“I think we can compete with all the teams in this league,” Ramirez said. “When we go into a ballgame I like our chances.”

DAYTON 53, WAITSBURG-PRESCOTT 33

DAYTON (53) — Hayes 1 1-3 3, Heinrich 0 0-0 0, Sanchez 0 1-2 1, Smay 0 0-0 0, Barbosa 0 0-0 0, Lambert 2 3-4 9, Frame 6 8-18 20, Inoue 0 0-1 0, Hayes 0 0-0 0, Waggoner 3 2-3 8, Ramirez 5 1-4 12. Totals 17 16-29 53.

WAITSBURG-PRESCOTT (33) — Eastman 0 1-2 1, Estes 4 4-4 14, Deal 1 1-2 3, Acevedo 1 0-0 3, Lanning 3 1-2 7, Leroue 1 0-4 2, L. Dozier 0 3-6 3, Bartlow 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 10-20 33.

Dayton 13 13 8 19 — 53

W-P 6 6 12 9 — 33

3-point goals — Day 3 (Lambert 2, Ramirez), W-P 3 (Estes 2, Acevedo). Total fouls — Day 18, W-P 21. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — W-P (coach). Rebounding — W-P 38 (Lanning 9). Turnovers — W-P 25. Assists — W-P 1 (Estes).