Bench-led Airedales top Bulldogs, 71-46; stay hot
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Alma backups Tyree McGill, Matthew Rogers, Eddie Tate, Hutson Boggs, and Chris Salazar spent more time on the floor than the starters Tuesday night at Greenwood.
They scored more points, too.
McGill scored nine points and Tate added seven points and a team-high 10 rebounds during the Airedales’ 71-46 win over Greenwood - the school’s fourth straight win over the Bulldogs.
Alma (12-8, 5-0) has won six in a row (all by double-digits) and is 5-0 in 5A-West play for the first time since starting 8-0 in the 2011-12 season.
“The depth on our team, we’ve got another five (players) that can come in and play and not only score for us but pick up the intensity on defense,” Rogers said. “It shows how much we’ve grown. It’s incredible that we can give our starting five a break and have another five that can go in and do pretty much the same thing.”
Alma is about to dig into the teeth of the 5A-West, with consecutive home games against Mountain Home (16-5), Van Buren (16-5), and Harrison (13-7).
“We’ve got a long way to keep going,” Rogers said. “We have a really tough team Friday, and a really tough team (Van Buren) Tuesday, and then we have to do it all over again. We can’t look at our wins; we have to focus one game at a time and win the next one.”
Tate continued his assurgence of late by gobbling up 10 rebounds.
“I feel like I played a decent part, (but) a lot of other people do really good things, too,” Tate said. “(But) I can show what I can do, too.”
Tate and the Airedales’ bench set the tone in the conference opener at Harrison two weeks ago when he scored six points and pulled down a dozen rebounds.
Greenwood 82, Alma 33
GIRLS - The Alma Lady Airedales dropped their third straight conference game Tuesday at Greenwood, 82-33. Jordan Gramlich led Alma with 12 points.
The Lady Bulldogs surged ahead, 16-0, in the first quarter before Alma ended the quarter on a 9-7 run. The Lady Airedales trailed 40-16 at halftime.
Makinley McCartt added nine points for the Lady Airedales.
The Lady Airedales (7-14, 1-4) host Mountain Home Friday.