Hampton-Dumont-CAL Can’t Keep Up With St. Edmond

HAMPTON—- While the Hampton-Dumont-CAL Bulldogs boys basketball team was able to keep the game competitive throughout the first half; the team was unable to keep up with the No. 8. St. Edmond Gaels in the second half. The Bulldogs fell to the Gaels 72-43 to fall to 3-13 on the year during the team’s Senior Night.

The Bulldogs trailed 18-8 after the first quarter and were outscored 17-14 in the second quarter to make it a 35-22 game at halftime. St. Edmond then pulled away in the third quarter as they outscored the Bulldogs 20-8 in the third quarter t0 make it 55-30. The Bulldogs were then outscored 17-13 in the final quarter.

The Bulldogs went 18-for-53 from the field for a 34% shooting percentage. The team went 3-for-16 from deep and 4-for-9 from the free-throw line.  Brady Harr led the way with 18 points, Caden Woods scored 10 points, Tramaine Horton added eight points, Wyatt Dean scored three points, and Aaden Keehn Alexander Sosa both scored 2 points each.

The team had 14 assists in the game as Connor Miller and Horton led the team with four assists each. Harr, and Hunter Rieken both had two assists each, and Keehn and Woods both had one assist each.

On defense the Bulldogs had four blocks, Harr led the team with three blocks and Jacob Donnenwerth had one block. The team also had six steals in the game, Rieken led the team with two steals, Harr, Sosa, Horton, and Keehn all had one steal each.

Head coach Brian Niesen said that despite the loss, a positive was how some of the seniors got their moment.

“I was really happy for our seniors Wyatt Dean and Alexander Sosa coming in and knocking down shots,” Niesen said. “Those guys show up to practice and they don’t get a lot of time and I am happy that they in their Senior Night they both made their last shots and I am happy for them. You could see how much their teammates liked them because you could see how excited they were for them.”

The Bulldogs struggled with turnovers as they lost the ball 21 times in the game. Niesen said that St. Edmond’s transition offense made it possible for the Gael to pull away from the Bulldogs.

“Some of that was them pushing the ball and attacking and some of it was us not stopping the ball soon enough and not getting matched up,” Niesen said. “We did not play great transition defense.”

With the regular season coming to an end, Niesen said to give them a chance in their upcoming games that they have to play smart. Niesen also said that taking better shots can help with their transition game.

“We try to take care of the ball and if we play a low turnover game and play as smart as we can and not give the other team easy buckets in transitions,” Niesen said. “We have to limit the other team’s easy buckets.

The team’s next game is on the road at Iowa Falls-Alden on Feb. 4. at 7:45 p.m.