Bulldogs can’t handle CGD press

HAMPTON – Bulldog interim boys’ basketball coach Matt Lokenvitz was thinking over the bitter irony of his team being unable to handle the 1-2-2 press that Clarion-Goldfield-Dows put them under.

Especially so since that is the type of defense his team uses in a 73-53 loss on Tuesday, Feb. 9.

“A three-quarter trap,” Lokenvitz said. “They just kept leaking wherever the ball side was, leaking to the middle. The problem is, it’s exactly what we run. We see it in practice all of the time, and for whatever reason we wouldn’t figure out how to get out and break that. When we did break it, we were getting layups, but 22 turnovers and shot…we just didn’t play very well.”

With the turnovers and steals from the trap, the Cowboys ran out to a big lead early and the Bulldogs never fully recovered.

In the fourth quarter, a rally got the Bulldogs to within 15 at 62-47 on a Colin Hill basket with four minutes remaining, but they were unable to get any closer.

Lokenvitz still has hope for his team that dropped to 3-17 overall, 1-13 in the North Central Conference.

“We’ve got only two games left in the season before we play Clear Lake in the districts,” Lokenvitz said. “We’ve got five practices, two more games to get better before our district game. We still have the same guys who beat Iowa Falls, that played West Fork to an eight-point game, that played Clear Lake until we subbed out to a 10-point game, so we just have to figure out now how to get back to that team and stop shooting 15 percent from the floor when we are out there.”

Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 73, Bulldogs 53

C-G-D (9-10, 5-8)– Mateo Martinez 7-18 2-4 19, Coady Olson 6-15 1-2 14, Jaxon Carpenter 9-13 2-5 21, Aiden Harrington 2-4 0-0 5, Nevan Foss 0-0 0-0 0, Landon Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Gavin Wilson 1-3 2-3 4, Jacob Moore 4-0 0-0 10, Preston Gardner 0-0 0-0. Totals 29-62 8-13 73.

Bulldogs (3-17, 1-13)– Jordan Severs 3-8 0-2 6, Mario De La Cruz 2-6 1-4 6, Jace Spurgeon 2-5 0-0 5, Riley Heeren 1-5 0-0 3, Marco Guerrero 1-5 1-2 4, Cal Heeren 4-11 0-0 11, Benji Sauke 0-1 0-1 0, Colin Hill 2-6 0-0 4, Payton McNealy 5-8 0-0 10, Tommy Birdsell 0-0 0-0 0, Will Sackville 0-0 0-0 0, Eli Walton 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Pfeffer 1-1 0-0 2, Kale Folkerts 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-58 2-9 53.

C-G-D         17   21   20   15      -   73

Bulldogs      5   15   17   16      -   53

Three-point goals– CGD 7-16 (Martinez 2-4, Moore 2-5, Harrington 1-1, Carpenter 1-2, C. Olson 1-4); H-D 7-27 (C. Heeren 3-7, Spurgeon 1-3, Guerrero 1-4, R. Heeren 1-4, De La Cruz 1-5, Sauke 0-1, Walton 0-1, Severs 0-2). Rebounds– CGD 26 (Carpenter 8, Harrington 7, C. Olson 5, Martinez 2, Wilson 2, Foss, Moore); H-D 30 (Severs 6, McNealy 5, R. Heeren 4, Hill 4, C. Heeren 3, Birdsell, Guerrero, Folkerts). Assists– CGD 12 (C. Olson 4, Martinez 3, Carpenter 2, Wilson 2, L. Olson); H-D 15 (Guerrero 4, De La Cruz 3, Spurgeon 2, McNealy 2, Birdsell, C. Heeren, Severs, R. Heeren). Steals– CGD 12 (Martinez 4, Carpenter 4, Moore 3, Harrington); H-D 5 (Guerrero 2, C. Heeren, Severs, McNealy). Blocks – CGD 2 (Harrington, Moore); H-D 5 (Hill 3, Severs, McNealy). Total fouls – CGD 12, H-D 13. Fouled out – None.