Bulldogs drop fourth straight

HAMPTON – Iowa Falls-Alden’s boys’ basketball team came into Hampton on Friday, Jan. 3 and stuck in the dagger right away, building a double-digit lead after the first quarter and never leaving the outcome in doubt in an eventual 57-38 win over the Bulldogs.

A three-pointer at the end of the first quarter buzzer had the Cadets ahead 19-7 and they’d go on to take a 32-16 halftime lead.

“I tried explaining to them that I’m not very happy with the way I had us ready to play to start the game,” Bulldog head coach Heath Walton said. “I thought we had good Christmas break practices. But, we didn’t come out and play like I’d hoped we were going to play, so I think one of the things I have to do as a coach is getting us ready from the start of the game.”

Numerous unforced turnovers helped Iowa Falls-Alden where it really didn’t need the extra help.

“I don’t know, it was a 2-3 zone,” Walton said. “When we run a 2-3 zone, we practice defending a 2-3 zone. We moved the ball and threw it to guys that were standing in the way. We tried to make passes that weren’t there. We weren’t really spreading the floor.

“So, offensively, we have to figure out in practice to increase our speed of thinking. There was nothing tricky, they weren’t pressuring the ball, they weren’t…how many balls did we bobble, have the ball go off our hands? How many times did we throw it to spots that weren’t open? Nothing frustrated us, we just didn’t run it very well.”

Jordan Severs, who had eight points at halftime, led the Bulldogs with 12 points. Drew Uhlenhopp, who had six points at half, finished with six points, adding five rebounds and a team-high two assists. Wyatt Sutter, who was unable to crack the scoreboard, led the team rebounding with seven and had the only blocked shot.

Walton played a full complement of his bench, some faces that haven’t been on the court much earlier in the season when his Bulldogs started 2-1.

“When we are struggling to score the way we do, I mean, everyone is practicing hard,” Walton said. “So, it’s one of those (things) when we are in the teens and 20s and finding people to score, those guys are busting their tails. We’ve had two games now where we’ve had a group of our bench players get in and get us a little bit of a boost and give us a little bit of a jolt.

“So, that…we don’t respond offensively, it is a case of guys working hard and earning playing time, it’s also a situation where we’re trying to find one of these to give us a little spark offensively, obviously I haven’t figured that out yet.”

Iowa Falls-Alden 57, Bulldogs 38

Bulldogs (2-4, 0-4)– Malyk Schunk 1-3 0-0 2, Cade Klein 1-2 0-0 2, Cole Franke 1-2 0-0 3, Jace Spurgeon 1-7 0-0 3, Logan Colglazier 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Uhlenhopp 3-4 0-0 6, Wyatt Sutter 0-6 0-1 0, Benji Sauke 1-2 0-0 2, Carson Miller 0-3 0-0 0, Mario De La Cruz 2-4 0-0 5, Riley Heeren 1-1 0-0 3, Jordan Severs 5-12 1-2 12, Kale Folkerts 0-1 0-0 0, Colin Hill 0-1 0-0 0, John Palacios 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-49 1-3 38.

IF-A            19   13   19     6      -   57

Bulldogs      7     9   10   12      -   38

Three-point goals – H-D 5-27 (Heeren 1-1, Franke 1-2, De La Cruz 1-3, Spurgeon 1-5, Severs 1-5, Sauke 0-1, Schunk 0-2, Miller 0-2,Sutter 0-6). Rebounds– H-D 32, 9 off. 23 def. (Sutter 7, Uhlenhopp 5, Severs 5, Hill 4, Klein 3, Miller 2, De La Cruz 2, Spurgeon, Sauke, Heeren, Folkerts). Assists– H-D 8 (Uhlenhopp 2, Sauke 2, Franke, Spurgeon, De La Cruz, Severs). Steals– H-D 5 (Schunk, Spurgeon, Colglazier, Miller, De La Cruz). Blocks– H-D 1 (Sutter). Total fouls– H-D 15.Fouled out – H-D, None.