The South Callaway boys had to wait more than a week for the start of the season, but it was worth the wait.
After the Bulldogs' season opener last Tuesday at Columbia Independent was canceled, they opened their season Tuesday night at Van-Far, winning a 46-40 decision. South Callaway was led by the Gray brothers: sophomore Tayber finished with 15 points while senior Trynnen added 12.
Head coach Seth Thomas said it was good to finally begin the season, and even better to start it with a win. While the team struggled with shooting during its initial outing, the Bulldogs (1-0) worked through out to make plays on both ends of the floor to defeat a disciplined Indians (0-2) team.
"Van-Far is a super disciplined, well-coached team, and they play hard," Thomas said. "I think we did a great job, while we didn't shoot the ball particularly well, I think we did a great job playing through that and not letting that dictate on the defensive end."
Thomas said a few guys' contributions didn't show up in the box score, but they had as much of a hand in the win.
Seniors Trace Helsel and Sam Bucker had lockdown games on the defensive end, while sophomore Ryan Lepper made a key offensive rebound late in the game that set South Callaway up to win.
The Bulldogs trailed the Indians 10-5 after one quarter and 32-29 after three, narrowly leading 18-17 at the half. Thomas said working through these first-game issues will be paramount before the Bulldogs head into Friday's Show-Me Conference opener at Fatima (1-0), which is estimated to start around 8 p.m. after the C team and junior varsity games. The Comets are coming off a 90-42 season-opening win last Tuesday against Eldon.
"It's always good to get the season started off on the right foot," Thomas said. "Good teams find ways to win games when things aren't going well. We've got a good team in Fatima we're going to have to get ready for, and we're just going to have to clean stuff up and take care of the ball better if we're going to be successful Friday night."