Dawgs’ court: Boys focused on consistency
Dalton seniors Jaden Schlabach and Jalen Wenger lead the Dawgs this season.
Dalton juniors Quentin Lehman, Kyrie Gaut and Braylon Wenger are among juniors to watch this year.
ARCHIVE PHOTOS BY LISA McGINTY | LMc Photography
By ARIEL STAHLER
DGKN sports writer
Basketball is a game where reliability is key, whether that is shot after shot finding the bottom of the net, precise passes or a consistent flow to the game. For Dalton High School’s varsity boys basketball team, focusing on this consistency is at the top of the to-do list for the start of the season.
“The biggest area we are working on is consistency,” said Dalton’s head coach Kaleb Reed. “Being consistent with our work ethic in practice, as well as in games.”
A short-term goal for Dalton is to start the season with a win against their first opponent, Chippewa.
Over the course of the season, the Dawgs are looking to become the best version of themselves individually, as well as a team collectively.
“We will try to balance preparing for the team we are playing with a continual focus on ourselves to become the best team we can be,” Reed said.
Fans should keep an eye on seniors Jalen Wenger and Jaden Schlabach, as well as juniors Braylon Wenger, Quentin Lehman and Kyrie Gaut. Reed said the team lost good size, skill and work ethic from last year’s seniors, but the gap they left gave room for Schlabach, Lehman and Gaut to play a larger role this season.
Because Dalton’s football team had a deep postseason run, the basketball team recently had the full team back with the athletes who play both football and basketball. Reed added the team is trying to shake off the rust and get their basketball legs under them. The length of the football season also affected the start of the basketball season. The Dawgs’ season opener that was originally scheduled for Nov. 26 has been moved to Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at Chippewa. Dalton will host Norwayne Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. for their home opener.
Reed noted the keys to a successful season for the Dawgs.
“Two areas that will determine our success are consistency and leadership,” he said. “We need to be consistent in our work ethic, as well as our preparation in practice and also have the leadership to pick each other up when teammates are having an off day.”
