In all sports, a team cannot always be judged by wins and losses. This is expressed in the famous quote “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”

For a new-look team like this year’s Bulldogs, it is important to be able to know that they can play with the best. And although they opened the season with two losses, and as Herm Edwards reminds us “you play to win the game,” many positive aspects can be taken from them.

In the Bulldogs’ first game against 3A powerhouse Lakes, the Bulldogs played more than respectably, outscoring Lakes in the final three quarters in a 68 – 59 loss.

Three days later, the Bulldogs entered the hostile Franklin Quaker gym, and in front of Lorenzo Romar and NBA scouts held their own against arguably the best team in the state, keeping the deficit to five points until the Quakers pulled away in the fourth quarter.

“Even though we lost, it was still a fun game,” said junior Dre Taylor. “It was fun to play in that kind of atmosphere.”

Junior Dre Taylor and freshman Tony Wroten both averaged 20 points for those two games combined,.

Also, even when things appeared to be going poorly, the team never gave up, and always hustled and played tough on both sides of the floor.

“One thing we always do is play defense,” said senior Correy Bagby.

Searching for their first win of the season, the Bulldogs faced the Eastlake Wolves on a cold Friday night for their home opener. The team appeared ready to go, which Taylor attributes to time spent 24 hours before.

“Practices the day before a game are the best,” said Taylor. “Everyone gets pumped up, and then we get to wear our sweat suits to school the next day.”

When play began, it was obvious who the stronger team was, as the Bulldogs jumped out to an early double-digit lead, due in large part to outside shooting and Wroten’s 13 first quarter points.

The Wolves kept in within reach by matching Garfield from the perimeter, but when their outside shooting went cold, the Bulldogs took advantage, and two back-to-back dunks from Wroten seemingly crushed Eastlake’s spirit.

“Everyone on the floor has the ability to score,” said Taylor. “We can get buckets against any team because we have so many threats.”

By the end of the game, the dominance was felt not only on the court, but off the court as well as the Bulldog cheerleaders often directed their cheers at Eastlake, quieting their cheerleaders and crowd.

However the Bulldogs had no time to celebrate their first win, as their next game started only about 15 hours after the Eastlake game ended, as they took on a tough Kentridge squad at Bellevue Community College.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead, before giving it up right before half, going in trailing by a point. After trailing by as many as five in the mid third quarter, the Bulldogs went on an impressive run, not only putting up points nearly every possession, but also completely shutting down Kentridge’s offense and star Renado Parker, who only scored 12 in the game.

Wroten got to the foul line seemingly at will, and if a play ever broke down, Taylor and sophomore Kellen Landry hit big shots.

At one point during the fourth quarter, a Kentridge fan leaned over and asked how old Wroten was. My friend told him, and it seemed like he was in shock after witnessing a vicious crime, as his mouth opened wide, and he mumbled words under his breath that don’t need to be repeated. The game ended with the final score of 65 – 52 Bulldogs.

Wroten and Taylor are second and third in KingCo 4A scoring behind Franklin’s Peyton Siva, and junior Jaron Cox is averaging over eight points per game. As well, Franklin and Garfield are the top two 4A scoring teams in the entire state.

“Everyone is doing what they should be doing,” said Bagby.

On December 11, the Bulldogs trounced the boys from down under for their third straight team, knocking off an Australian team 95 – 48.

“The game was easy, but it was fun,” said Taylor. “Everybody got to play a bunch and we got back in the groove.

Almost as impressive as scoring 95 points as a team was the fact that five Bulldogs scored in double figures, including Wroten, Taylor, Cox, freshman Glenn Brooks, and senior Eric Nelson.

Now with three wins under their belt, the Bulldogs appear to be back on track, and ready to make another run at the state tournament come March.

“We need to play as a team, and play good defense to make state,” said Bagby. Taylor added that it was important to run the offense correctly.

On this past Friday, the Bulldogs faced the Lake Washington Fighting Kangaroos, looking to run their winning streak to four games. The game was a bit of a struggle, as Lake Washington’s 2 – 3 zone forced the Bulldogs settle for outside shots, with only a few of them were dropping. However the Bulldogs played fierce defense against a poor offensive Kangs team, and ended up earning the victory 54 – 40.

The Bulldogs next will face the Inglemoor Vikings, who if it weren’t for a controversial technical foul call would’ve upset Franklin. It will be a hard fought game, and a real test for the team. As well, the Bulldogs face the Roosevelt Roughriders, who are currently ranked in the top five in the state, on January 4th.

These two games will show if the team is truly ready to make another run to the state tournament next March.