Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer Poland’s Oliver McCully powers his way to the basket against South Range’s Matt Singleton.

POLAND – The Poland Bulldogs boys basketball team entered Friday’s big game with the South Range Raiders as the “top dog” in the Northeast-8, boasting a perfect record in the league. So, they knew that the Raiders were going to give them their best shot both figuratively and literally.

The Raiders did just that, but it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs used hot shooting in the second half to overpower the Raiders in a 61-49 victory, staying on top of the league standings with a 5-0 mark. They also improved their overall record on the season to 7-2.

“We knew coming into tonight that it was between us and South Range. I thought our guys for the past three days have been focused, and they have prepared well,” Bulldogs head coach Eric Fender remarked. “They (South Range) are a good team. They do a lot of good things like they run some set actions and (Landon) Moore is a heck of a player. And Rohan shots the heck out of the ball.”

“It means a lot being on top of the league,” Bulldogs senior forward Cole Fulton added. “Guys were carrying that top spot tonight and having everyone try to chase us for that league title.”

The loss drops the Raiders to 6-4 overall on the year and 3-2 in the league. It also snapped the Raider’s two-game winning streak.

The game marked a reunion of sorts for the Raiders’ head coach Pat Carden with Poland’s coach Eric Fender. Carden served as Fender’s assistant at Springfield for a couple of years before Steve French took over the Tigers program. Ironically, French is now an assistant for Carden at South Range.

“He gave me my start in high school coaching,” Carden said. “So, I have a lot of respect for him and his dad who taught me so much. So, these are fun games when you know the coaches on a personal level.

“Coach Carden has done a really nice job with that team. I have a lot of respect for coach Carden and coach French over there,” Fender said. “It’s always fun and interesting to see some of these guys. I always enjoy the coaching camaraderie that is around here.”

With the game tied at 26-26 at halftime, the Bulldogs started hitting the shots that seemed to elude them in the first half. They also tightened the defense on the Raider’s senior forward Landon Moore after he accounted for 14 of the Raiders’ 26 first-half points.

“First-half, shots weren’t falling, and we weren’t getting to the free throw line enough. We came into the second half, we kept the same energy that we started off with, and shots started falling in and working itself out,” Fulton said.

The Bulldogs methodically pulled away from the Raiders in the third quarter as they began the half with a 7-1 run leading them by 6 points at 33-27 midway through the frame. The Raiders responded by cutting the margin to 3 at 35-32 before the Bulldogs Carmine Tukalo finished the quarter by connecting on four consecutive free throws to stake the Bulldogs to an 8-point, 40-32 advantage by the end of the period.

“We had to make them work a little bit, and our defense did that. We didn’t change much,” Fender said of the halftime adjustments. “We just improved a little bit on things. We missed a few assignments, and we missed a few switches on defense. They ran a nice back screenplay, and we didn’t communicate very well. We communicated much better in the second half.”

Following a basket by Oliver McCully for the Bulldogs early in the fourth quarter, the Dogs carried a 9-point lead over the Raiders. The Raiders could not get any closer than 7 points in the next three minutes of the final quarter before the Bulldogs began to pull away with a 14-9 run to close the second half of the fourth period and the contest.

“I thought we had a poor shooting night,” Carden said. “When that happens, you have to try to get to the rim. Their (Poland) physicality doesn’t allow that for many teams. They have some big and strong kids. It caused some mismatch problems, and they rebounded really well in the second half, and it wore down on us.”

The game began with it being a see-saw affair with the Raiders taking the lead at 11-8 following a three by junior guard Nate Lewis. But the Bulldogs closed the stanza with a 5-0 run to hold a 13-11 lead at the close of the opening quarter.

Following back-to-back baskets by Moore and Matt Singleton, the Raiders enjoyed a 5-point, 22-18 advantage at the 2:50 mark of the second period. But the Bulldogs would chip away at the raider lead with an 8-4 run, climaxed by a three by Fulton with just 36 seconds remaining in the first half. That three sent the two teams to the halftime locker rooms knotted at 26 apiece.

“It’s not great in the league for us now with our second loss. That stings. But I thought our kids played hard to the end and they really battled as best they could,” Carden said. “We are still in year one of the program and only ten games in. We are trying to build every day to get better, and I think we are.”

The Raiders return to the court Tuesday night when they host the Niles Red Dragons in another key NE8 tilt. The Bulldogs will also play again on Tuesday when they travel to Howland in non-conference action.

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