By Jeanne Sager
April 1, 2003 – Sullivan West

Overall Record: 7-11

League Record: 4-6 OCIAA Division III

Team Leaders: The co-captains of the Bulldogs this year were seniors Brent Rose and Everett Saul. Rose led the team in scoring with about 16 points per game and grabbed approximately 11 rebounds per game.
Saul, who sat out the first half of the season with an injury sustained during football season, came back to add nine points and seven rebounds per game.

Season Highlights: According to Coach George Rose, the Bulldogs played an exceptional game against S.S. Seward, beating them 71-61 during the regular season.
That Seward team went on to win the state Class D championship.
The Bulldogs’ game against Monticello this year was also well-played, Rose said.
“We gave Monticello a real good scare,” he said. “We scared the tar out of them in their gym.”
The Panthers had expected an easy win, Rose said, and instead they found themselves battling an aggresive Bulldog defense.

Season Lowlight: This year, with a young team, was difficult for the Bulldogs, Rose said.
“We went from a D to a C to a B school in two years,” he explained.
The boys came back from Christmas vacation kind of sluggish, Rose said, losing a few games they could have won.

Other: The Bulldogs depended a lot on their sophomores this year to get the job done on the court, which should give them an advantage over other teams next season, Rose said.
Those players will already have game experience, he noted.
For Rose this year was a learning experience as well – he moved from coaching modified basketball to junior varsity to varsity within the course of two years.
“It was fun,” he said. “I had a great group of kids.
“You like to work with kids that try that hard.”