“It’s a good way to start the year,” Nichols said. “We still need to get into basketball shape, but we will get there eventually.”

With the Eagles holding a 3-2 lead early in the first, Logan Stone buried a basket to ignite a 14-0 run for the Bulldogs over the next seven minutes ending when the Eagles hit back-to-back treys to draw Eldorado to within seven at 16-9 at the end of the first.

The second quarter belonged to the Bulldogs, however, as six different players scored during the stanza for Coahoma. That, and the fact Colter Morgan decided to do his best imitation of a redwood, put any doubt of the outcome to rest.

The Bulldogs aided their own cause during the second by going 10-for-13 from the charity stripe, helping to build a 41-14 cushion entering the half.

The second half was more of the same as Coahoma extended the advantage to 57-24 after the third.

Morgan finally put the exclamation point on the night with 5:40 remaining in the game. The 6-7 senior post took a pass on the right wing and drove hard to the basket and  finished with a two-handed slam, igniting the crowd inside Bulldog Gymnasium.

“Defensively we did a real good job of shutting them down,” Nichols commented. “We just never let them get any good shots off.”

Coahoma finished the night with 13 blocks with Morgan collecting five while Cody Sheppard swatted four of his own.

Matthew Tatum led the way for the Bulldogs, scoring 20. Sheppard hit the sheet for 18 while the Paniagua brothers, Josh and Jovie, scored 10 and seven, respectively.

The Coahoma Bulldogettes (6-2), powered by Janice Gonzales 15 points, burst out to a 17-4 lead after one quarter of play before cruising to a 60-32 win over the Lady Tigers of Snyder.

Gonzales hit three-of-four from behind the arc with Lacey Sterling adding 12 in the victory.

Heather Sheppard and Teryn Bibb also made it to the double digit mark for the Bulldogettes, scoring 13 and 10, respectively.

“I saw some good things out there tonight,” Coach Chris Sumrall said. “We were able to move the ball around and get some good shots. We are getting better every game.”

The Bulldogs and Bulldogettes will next be in action Thursday as they host the 22nd annual Coahoma Invitational. The Bulldogettes open the round robin format for the girls’ side at 9:30 a.m. against the Miles Lady Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs close out the first day of tournament play at 7:30 p.m. against Sterling City.