Senior Bridge Barrett Reaches 1,500-Point Mark; Dogs Win At Chickasha
Sulphur picked up a marquee win and senior Bridge Barrett reached a career milestone last Saturday as the Dogs took on the Chickasha Chicks in round-ball action.
It was a much needed victory and a big one for the Dogs, who weren’t at their best the day before when they lost to Dickson in the OSD gym.
For coach Grant Bates and his team, the win took the sting off the team’s 19-point drubbing to the Comets the day earlier, and could give them some momentum as they get ready for the Class 4A playoffs in just over a week.
For senior Bridge Barrett, it was a special night as he reached the 1,500-point mark in his career. He is only the second Sulphur player in modern history to reach that scoring plateau, following in the footsteps of the late Bulldog star, Jamin Clifton.
Praising his scoring and team leader, Bates said this week Barrett’s outstanding accomplishment was made through hundreds of unseen hours in the gym working on his skill set. “I appreciate all the time and effort he has put in as a player,” the coach said.
Despite the loss to Dickson, the Dogs enjoyed a solid week of basketball, winning two out of three games and gaining momentum with the win at Chickasha.
They started off with a 68-32 victory over Marietta on February 3 in a well-defended game by the Sulphur defense.
“This was a good team win, we defended extremely well in this game and kept them from being able to get into the stuff they try to do,” said Bates.
Barrett led Sulphur in scoring with 21 points, followed by Ethan Sales, 13, Kale Brakefield 10 and Dugan Gray 9.
Three days later, however, the Dogs were not in sync, losing to 10th ranked Dickson, 62-43.
“They got off to a good start and we were never able to get in sync enough to recover,” said Bates. “I thought we did not play very well, but we fought hard to make it competitive in stretches. It just wasn’t our night, but a good game to learn from before playoffs come around.”
Barrett again led the team in scoring, knocking down 15 points.
Cagers
Sales followed with 12.
The tide turned for the Dogs the next night when they slipped past the Chicks, 47-46, in a big defensive struggle.
The Chicks rode an early wave of momentum to take a halftime lead, but the Dogs recovered to get the one-point road win.
“They got up on us early but after the half we were able to turn the momentum and really start playing solid on both ends,” said Bates. “We did enough to win in the end but it was based on our ability to defend. I challenged them as a team to really find our identity on that end and we were able to hold a really skilled offensive team to just 46 points. I was also proud of our team’s resiliency after (possibly) playing our worst game of the year the night before vs Dickson. Our boys showed a lot of heart and character to be able to do that.”
Barrett with 17 points and Sales with 16 led the Dog’s offense in the win.
After Tuesday’s game at Lone Grove, the Dogs will host Kingston Friday in a senior night game in the OSD gym, then will close out the regular season on Monday, Feb. 16, hosting Marlow.
