Some people might argue that Bulldog senior co-captain Michael Mondragon was born with a basketball in his hand.

His father Billy has been a successful basketball coach in Carlsbad and Artesia, and Michael grew up having back yard battles with his older brother Patrick and he got his first varsity start as a sophomore.

"Since I was a little kid, I’ve been at the gym with my dad nearly every day," said the point guard. "I grew up with a ball and I’ve just grown to love the game."

As a self-proclaimed "scrawny sophomore" two-years ago, Mondragon was thrust into the Bulldog starting lineup, taking over the reins of the point guard position for Paul Kirkwood’s Bulldogs. He had some struggles that year, but his potential was immediately noticed by Kirkwood.

"Mike was thrown into the fire early and I think that’s made him a strong player mentally," said the coach. "He was already mentally strong, but to get thrown into the fire as a sophomore is tough and most kids can’t handle it. You have to give a lot of credit to his parents for the way they raised him."

Mondragon also credits his family in his development and says that it’s been helpful to have a coach at home and one on the team.

"Having a dad that’s a coach and a coach like coach Kirkwood has really been a blessing for me," Mondragon said. "I’ve been learning the game from my dad forever and coach Kirkwood has taught me a lot too. I kind of get it on all sides — at home and at practice."

Mondragon also credits his brother Patrick with much of success.

"My brother has been the biggest influence on me," he said. "We used to play so hard against each other and he stressed to me how important it was to play good defense. He’s always been there to help me out and his influence made me the player I am."

Last year as a junior, Mondragon and the Bulldogs easily won the District and had high expectations going into the regional tournament, but allowed a large lead to slip away in a loss to eventual AAAA champion Kirtland.

"I still really have a bad taste in my mouth about last year," said Mondragon. "Everybody knows we should have pulled that out, but it didn’t go our way. We hope to take it a step further this year."

Mondragon is reluctant to speak of his team’s chance at a title this early and says that he and the Bulldogs still have some work to take care of before thinking about a state title.

"We still have three district games and we can’t get ahead of ourselves," he said. "We have Goddard coming in here this week — and two other tough games, plus the district championship before we can think about state."

Although basketball is no doubt Mondragon’s strongest sport, he also played a big part in the Bulldog football team’s recent state championship.

In the Bulldogs’ semifinal match with Farmington, Mondragon stepped in front of a Brenden Gaskins pass and made a game-saving interception when the Scorpions looked as if they were about to steal a win from the Bulldogs.

Mondragon had three interceptions in the playoffs and capped his senior season with a state title and the honor of being selected to the All-State team.

"It was awesome to win a state championship," he said. "We worked hard all year and we put it all together in the playoffs. We knew we had the talent to get it done if we just put it all together, and we did."

Now in his final season as the Bulldog floor general, Mondragon said he and his team are hungry for a title on the hardwood.

"We’re all hungry for a championship," he said. "We know we can’t slack up and we can’t get big heads though. We know what happens when you get overconfident."

The Bulldogs have started the season with a 16-3 record and a 3-0 start in district play and much of the credit has to go to the Bulldogs version of the ‘Little General.’

Mondragon leads the team in scoring, steals, assists and free throw shooting, averaging 10.6 points per game, 4 assists and 2 steals while shooting nearly 80-percent from the line.

That’s all well and good for Kirkwood, but he likes the leadership his guard shows and feels that it will rub off on the guards who will take on the leadership role next year.

"He’s definitely our team leader," said Kirkwood. "He has the ball about 75-percent of the time and he plays about 90-percent of the time.

"Our younger guards like George (Mullen) and Jonathan (Fernandez) have learned a great deal from him," the coach continued. "He has taught by example that the point guard can be real aggressive and also has the ability to score and just be a playmaker for the team. That has been a benefit to those guys."

Is there more basketball in Mondragon’s future?

He sure hopes so, but his head is firmly on his shoulders.