The Belgreen High School varsity girls’ basketball team is off to a great start to the 2024-25 campaign, picking up wins in its first three games. The Lady Bulldogs started off the season with a narrow victory against Pine Grove in Belmont, Mississippi; Belgreen followed it up with big wins over Smithville and Red Bay.
“It was a close game (against Pine Grove). First game of the year…you’ve gotta get some kinks out,” Belgreen head coach Chad Green said. “We had some turnovers and things of that nature, but we ended up winning 55-52.
“We came back home the following Tuesday and played Smithville—we won 65-29. Then Friday we hosted Red Bay and we beat them,” Green added.
Senior Dacota Green led Belgreen with 15 points in the win over Smithville. Green added another 11 points in the victory versus Red Bay, while Mackinley Hogan led all scorers with 12 points.
The fantastic start bodes well for a Lady Bulldogs team that is returning all of its players from last season, a year that saw Belgreen fall shy of a berth to Birmingham in the Class 1A regional.
“I’ve got a great group. I didn’t graduate anybody from last year, and they’re good kids that know the system,” Green said. “Dacota Green’s been with me for a long time. She’s started since the eighth grade. She’s a senior this year, and she’s our leading scorer. Makenna Fisher, she’s our second-leading scorer. And then we’ve got our point guard Bryn Scott. She just does an outstanding job. She broke the school’s single-season steals record last year, and she’s got on (AHSAA) all-time steals record, as far as single season.
“Ball-handling and defensive-wise, boy, she’s tough,” Green added of Scott. “She’s a true point guard, for sure.”
In addition to his returning starters Green’s team also has a deep bench that is already making its mark this season.
“Against Red Bay 10 of the 11 girls (on the team) scored. Against Smithville 11 out of 11 girls scored. Against Pine Grove nine out of 11 girls scored,” he said. “We’ve got girls that’ll start and girls that’ll come off the bench, but everybody’s got a role that they do.”
With so many returning players Belgreen has its sights set high this season. The Lady Bulldogs have moved up a classification to Class 2A, so achieving their ultimate goals may be more challenging, but Green is confident this group of players have the talent and drive to get there.
“We’ve jumped up to the 2A level…so it’s a different look for us, but we’re excited,” Green said. “We’ve got everybody back and feel like we’ve got a great team and a great chance to get back in the playoffs and make some noise. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to get to play.
“We’re hungry for Birmingham. We made it to the region final last year and got beat,” Green added. “This group is hungry to get back to Hanceville and see what we can do. We know we’ve got some improvement we’ve got to make from now to then, but it’s a long season and I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
The Belgreen Lady Bulldogs will travel to Deshler and Shoals Christian for their next two games on November 18th and 21st, respectively.
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