Andalusia falls 66-46 to Dothan Thursday

Andalusia couldn’t quite put together four quarters Thursday night in a 66-46 home loss to Dothan.

The Bulldogs (2-5) played the Tigers close for the first three periods, making it 11-11 after the first. AHS trailed 22-20 at halftime, and fought hard at the start of the third period, but got in a big hole late in the same period.

AHS coach Richard Robertson said a lot is missing from this team that can make it great.

“I’m trying to teach things other than winning,” Robertson said. “We played decent for three quarters, and then we started making little excuses. We had a good game plan and stuck with it for three quarters.

“We got behind and tried to catch up on one or two shots,” he said. “We can’t do that.”

It was a back and forth game throughout the entire contest. When DHS would get a bucket, Andalusia would come right back with a drive through the lane.

Dothan went ahead early in the first period, and Andalusia answered when senior Montel Lee drove the base line and passed it to fellow classmate Phillip James for a 2-2 score.

AHS would then take its first and only lead of the game at 4-3 on its next offensive possession.

After DHS went ahead 7-5, Bulldogs senior Jayden Ellison quickly drove the court to put the game at 7-7. Ellison finished second with 12 points behind Lee’s 15 for the night.

The Tigers went ahead 15-11 at the start of the second on two Anthony Reaves drives to the paint.

The Bulldogs, ever resilient, crawled back from trailing 18-15 to bring the game to one point after Kendarious Townsend drove the lane for an easy layup.

Dothan went ahead 22-18, Ellison then answered with a drive to cut it to two at the break.

Dothan never looked back after going ahead 26-20 to start the third period. Andalusia came back to within two again, but the Tigers took another lead to widen the gap.

Reaves found a lane to give DHS a 30-24 lead.

Townsend made a clean up basket after Trevor Parker got a steal to end the third period, making the score 37-28.

Dothan went ahead 43-30 in the fourth period, but AHS didn’t back down, getting baskets when they could.

“We made bad decisions and had poor defensive play,” Robertson said. “When we didn’t box out, we got outrebounded. That’s to be expected.

“We proved we can play with them for three quarters,” he said. “What we’ve got to learn to do is put a whole game together. We haven’t done that, but twice. We have played well and I appreciate the effort, but we’ve got to have a concerted effort from the whole bunch.”

Tyrez Lindsey led DHS with 16 points. Chris Graham chipped in 15 points.

In B-team action, the Bulldogs fell 38-34.

Ke’Shun Townsend led AHS with 13 points. Ian Peek and Alex Sheridan had eight points each.

The varsity girls fell 58-18 after scoring only four points in the first half.

During the third period, D’Ashia Johnson went down hard and hit her head on the court. She had to be helped up, and showed signs of dizziness at the bench.

AHS girls coach Brad Garner said Johnson went to the emergency room, where she was slated to get a cat scan.

Shay Thomas, Taylor Walker and Johnson had three points each for the Lady Bulldogs.

This was the first time since Andalusia played Hillcrest-Evergreen last year that it was swept at home.

Andalusia is back in action tomorrow in a makeup game against Straughn at home. Games start at 4:30 p.m. with the B-team.