BULLDOGS GUARD TYLER FRIEZE LEAPS PAST LOGGERS GUARD KOBE LEFEBER FOR A LAY UP DURING THE THIRD QUARTER OF THE CRESWELL VS. SCIO MATCHUP ON DEC. 6. THE CRESWELL BULLDOGS WON THE GAME 67-38 AND HAVE A CURRENT OVERALL RECORD OF 5-2. Christopher Palanuk / The Creswell Chronicle
The Creswell Bulldogs are 5-2 in preseason play after falling to host Toledo 75-83 on Dec. 4 but beating visiting Scio 67-38 on Dec. 6 and visiting Jefferson 59-52 on Dec. 7.
The Dawgs started slowly at Toledo, trailing 18-24 after the first quarter; but a big run helped them close to 40-43 at halftime and 56-58 after the third quarter.
”We played pretty well offensively – but defensively, Toledo has a couple of returning guards who are All-State kids and they absolutely killed us,” said Creswell Head Coach Jesse Thomas.
Toledo point guard Conner Marchant racked up 41 points, including four threes and 13-of-15 free-throw shooting.
”We threw four different guys at him and he just lit everybody up,” Thomas said. ”He’s just really good, really tough to guard.”
Off-guard Jaydn Spangler added 23 points, including 15 fourth-quarter points and five threes.
”Those two guys made some just insanely difficult shots in transition and a lot of contested shots,” Thomas said, noting that only four Boomers scored in the game.
Creswell led by one with just under three minutes remaining, but half a minute later was down five after poor shot selection and execution led to a pair of back-to-back Toledo threes. The Boomers also went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe during the final two minutes.
”We had a lot of dead-ball turnovers, and poor decision-making down the stretch cost us, but I’m happy we put ourselves in the position to win it; it’ll be a good learning experience for us overall,” Thomas said.
Tyler Frieze paced Creswell with 19 points, including 5-of-8 free-throw shooting, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Kai Apo added 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists; Austin Gabriel had 15 points and nine rebounds; and Tayler Forsman had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Against Scio, the Dawgs led 19-6 after sinking five first-quarter threes, 45-13 at halftime and 59-16 after three. Bulldog starters retired in the third quarter as younger subs and swing players took over on the court.
Apo scored 13 first-half points and had six rebounds. Frieze had 13 points and five rebounds; Forsman had 12 points; Dallton Dewey had nine points, including 3-of-4 three-point shooting; and Tyler Atwood added nine second-half points.
”It was nice to see some younger guys who don’t play full-time varsity come in and make a big impact,” Thomas said.
Against Jefferson, the Bulldogs struggled some but managed to stave off a late-game challenge by the Lions. Creswell led 18-10 after one, 30-26 at halftime and 46-36 after three.
”We had some poor shot selection, some silly turnovers; it was just one of those nights where we weren’t clicking, and everything felt a little off,” Thomas said. ”It was good for us to play under a higher-pressure situation late in the game.”
Gauge Smith paced Creswell with 15 points – 12 in the first quarter. ”He was super-aggressive getting to the basket early and had two and-ones,” Thomas said. ”He was making great cuts to the basket and the guys were hitting him on the cuts.”
Dewey had 12 points, including a first-quarter three; in the fourth quarter, ”He had some big steals plus a huge offensive rebound off a (teammate’s) bad shot choice, and he scored on that to save that possession and put us up seven,” Thomas said.
Frieze added 10 points; Apo had seven points and seven rebounds; and Andrew Spence scored eight third-quarter points, including two threes, and had six rebounds.
”Tayler, Tyler and Gauge were all in foul trouble, so Andrew started the third quarter and his points helped stave off a real (Jefferson) comeback,” Thomas said.
This week, the Bulldogs travel to Salem Academy and host Oakland on Friday.