While their basketball record is a so-so 7-7, that still represents progress for the Waterloo Bulldogs.

This is a team virtually devoid of much recent boys basketball success, playing under first-year coach C.J. Cruser. Waterloo's overtime win over Columbia may not seen like a lot, but the Bulldogs had lost to the Eagles by nine two weeks ago at the Columbia-Freeburg Holiday Tournament.

Cruser, a former baseball and basketball standout at Nashville High, has coached under the legendary Darin Lee at both Nashville and Collinsville. While Cruser may be a bit old-school to some, he knows what it takes to build a winning basketball program.

Given a chance to implement his system at all levels, Cruser will eventually find success in my opinion. He just needs patience, time and a continued effort to get the best athletes he can out for basketball.

The Bulldogs got a huge game from junior center Justin Kretchmer, who repeatedly burned Columbia inside and nearly wound up with a triple-double.  A school the size of Waterloo, which has 891 students and plays in Class 3A, should have a better boys basketball program.

How tough has it been there? The Bulldogs' last regional championship was in 1975, and their last postseason title before that was a 1961 district championship. Ouch!

Waterloo has a new school with new facilities and a growing population. Unfortunately, basketball definitely ranks behind baseball, soccer and probably even football in terms of popularity and drawing the best athletes.  In addition, many of the school's best athletes are pulled in other directions by other sports and theri club teams - a problem faced by schools throughout the country.

Upgrading the schedule to include more Southwestern Conference teams would help show the Bulldogs the direction they need to go in the future.