Cashmere opened the season on the road with a 14-point loss to Connell, who has greatly improved their squad from last year. Connell was able to pick apart the Bulldogs’ defense and capitalized on countless second-chance points. As for Cashmere’s offense, their attack was shut down for the most part as they struggled to hit shots against the Eagles’ persistent zone defense.
Next, Cashmere travelled to Walla Walla, looking to get their first win of the season against the College Place Hawks. While it was not very pretty, the Bulldogs were able to grind it out and get their first win of the season in a low–scoring 45-39 defensive battle.
Throughout the first two games, Sophomore guard Mac Carlson led the Dawgs in a majority of the five statistical categories, even while being the only one face-guarded against zone defenses from both of Cashmere’s opponents. However, Carlson was not the only Bulldog putting out quality showings. There were actually a plethora of players who seemed to be bright spots for the dawgs. This list included the following: seniors Ethan Thiess and Tobie Larson, junior Colton Stendera, and sophomores Elijah Davidson and Jackson Binger. Each of whom have delivered big contributions thus far and will likely only further their stellar play as the season progresses and their roles expand.
When asked about the season so far, Sophomore Elijah Davidson had this to say; “Varsity games are much different than what I was used to, and I have learned a lot in these first two games. I understand now how essential boxing out and rebounding the basketball are to winning a basketball game. Furthermore, I recognized the importance of our team’s fundamental defense.” These seemingly small tasks can be the difference between a win and a loss, so as stated by Davidson, it is crucial that the team ingrain these good habits early in the season.
As for the Royal Knights, they have had a wild start to the season. They started out their season at home against Connell in a game that was very back and forth. Royal started out slowly in the first two periods, entering halftime down two. They had 26 points at the break, with 20 of them coming from Junior Grant Wardenaar. In the second half, Royal looked much improved, and towards the end of the game, more specifically, early in the 4th quarter, they were able to pull away from the Eagles. Connell was unsuccessful in a comeback effort, falling to the Knights 72-56. Wardenaar was a focal point for the Knights all game, finishing with an incredible 40 points. However, as was the case with Cashmere, Royal had several other contributors who played big roles in the win. The most impactful performances came from the following: Seniors Anderson Brown and Manny Ruvalcaba, along with junior Dax Jenks and Grant Wardenaar.
Royal is in the same boat as Cashmere, as they are both just getting into the groove of Basketball after both schools made the 1A football championship where they played each other. Both Basketball teams are made up of a high percentage of football players who were very limited in what practices they could attend and what they could do in the small amount of practices they had. With this early-season game weighing so much, both squads need to be on their A game to come out on top. The biggest thing for Cashmere in this matchup will be…….
“Defense. Only our defensive rotations and fundamentals will get us through that game. If our team sacks our defensive concepts, the entire game will fall apart for us.” These were the words of Cashmere Starting Big, Elijah Davidson, when asked what the biggest key to winning will be.
This will be a very crucial and entertaining game for both squads, and I encourage you to support the Bulldogs either in person at Royal High School Gymnasium or online on the Royal SD Live YouTube channel. The game is at 7:15 on Saturday, December 20th.
