By Pamela Holloway
Last Wednesday the Bulldogs traveled back to Jacksonville State University for the AHSAA 2A Southeast Regional Championship game. The Bulldogs were set to face off with the Gaston Bulldogs for a chance to participate in the 2A Final Four tournament at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The stage was set and it was time for the Battle of the Bulldogs.
LaFayette came out strong in the first half behind senior leader Vaderrian Story, DeAundra Vines and Branaviyun Story. The trio paced the Dogs through the first half after a slow start by the Dogs. Gaston was up for the battle and held their own throughout the first two quarters but found themselves trailing at the half 30-20.
In the second half the LaFayette Bulldogs came out running. The Dogs stretched the 10-point halftime advantage to 13 points until about midway through the fourth quarter. The Gaston Bulldogs made a final push to get back into the game. Gaston picked up offensively and with about two minutes remaining in the game they now only trailed LaFayette by 3 points. But the LaFayette Bulldogs were resilient and held off Gaston with a 54-47 win.
The senior trio of Story, Story, and Vines paced the Bulldogs scoring with Tae Story and Dra Vines both scoring 14 points and Branaviyun Story dropping in 13 points and junior Jordan Johnson adding 11 points.
The three seniors were all named to the AHSAA 2A Southeast Regional All-Tournament team. Vaderrian Story was named MVP of the tournament.
It was the first time that the LaFayette Bulldogs basketball team had been to the AHSAA Final Four in four years. Led by the senior leadership of point guard Dra Vines and shooting guard Vaderrian Story the Bulldogs have found themselves in the AHSAA 2024 Class 2A Basketball State Championship Final Four.
LaFayette had their eyes set on getting to the 2A State Championship game but the one thing that stood between them and the championship game was the Highland Home Flying Squadron. As luck would have it the Bulldogs probably experienced their worst first half of the season. From the beginning the Bulldogs seemed to be a little out of sync and appeared to be struggling with the Highland Home size advantage. The Squadron’s height and length silenced the Dogs offense causing them to go scoreless throughout the entire first quarter.
In the second quarter the Bulldogs found a little rhythm on offense and scored 11-points in the second quarter to find themselves trailing the Flying Squadron 21-11 at the half.
LaFayette came out in the second half with full court man to man pressure. The pressure and good three-point shooting by senior forward Key’lun Powell closed the gap for the Dogs and had them right back in the game. The Bulldogs scrapped their way right back in the game and were as close as four points late in the fourth quarter. Plagued by missed free throws and costly mistakes the Bulldogs couldn’t quite get over the hump and fell short to the Squadron 56-51.
Key’lun Powell led the way for the Bulldogs with 15-points. Vaderrian Story poured in 13 points. Dra Vines added 11-points and Branaviyun Story had 9-points and 7 boards. The Bulldogs will be losing six seniors from this year’s team, but they have a strong group of returning players. Junior Jordan Johnson, Sophomore Cameron Thomas, and freshmen Jayden Thomas and Ty Gates will all be a key part of the Bulldogs returning team next season.