Bulldogs girls fall short against Clear Lake

CLEAR LAKE—- The Hampton-Dumont-CAL girls basketball team lost a close game to Clear Lake 43-36 on Dec. 8. The team is now 1-5 on the year.

It was a defensive first half as Clear Lake led 8-5 after the first quarter and 17-16 at halftime after the Bulldogs outscored Clear Lake 11-9 in the second quarter.

In the third quarter after a slow start in which Clear Lake made it a 20-16 lead with just under 5:00 left in the quarter. The Bulldogs got within one point after a three-pointer by Brooklyn Valley made it 20-19. The team then exchanged baskets and Clear Lake led 27-23 with just over 1:00 left. Valley then made another three-pointer to make it 27-16 with around 1:00 left and the Bulldogs went on to tie the game at 29-29 with around 30 seconds left. Clear Lakes then scored right before the end of the quarter to make it a 31-29 game as they outscored the Bulldogs 14-13.

Clear Lake pulled away a little bit halfway through the final quarter as they made it 38-32 with around 5:00 left. The Bulldogs scored only seven points in the final quarter as they were outscored 12-7.

On offense, the Bulldogs were 13-for-45 from the field including 4-for-18 from three-point range and 6-for-10 from the free-throw line. Lily Hambly led the team with 14 points, Jordan Valley scored eight points and Brooklyn Valley and Charlee Morton both scored six points each. The team had 12 assists, Brooklyn Valley had a team-high six assists, Jordan Valley added four assists and Kenzie Moorehead added two assists. 

On defense, the Bulldogs had 19 steals, Brooklyn Valley led the team with 10 steals, Jordan Valley added four steals, Hambly recorded three steals, and Morton recorded two steals.

Bulldogs head coach Miranda Stafford said that the big difference between the first half and second half on offense for the Bulldogs was that the team was more patient.

“We ball faked, we didn’t just turn and pass ,” Stafford said. “We had patience and valued the possession in the third quarter and made sure we got looks. We got a few touches inside which helped and some kicks to the outside for better looking shots.”

The Bulldogs were able to find open shots while attacking Clear Lake’s zone defense and when the shots did not fall the Bulldogs were on the boards as they had 16 offensive rebounds. Stafford said that she thought the team had moments where they passed well.

“There were times where we were trying to make a great pass instead of just a good pass or the easy pass and we tried to make things difficult,” Stafford said. “I think they made the adjustment in the third quarter.”

Stafford said that while there were times where the Bulldogs were not able to get the second chance points to go in that they should keep crashing the boards. One thing that the Bulldogs can take away from the game is that Stafford said the team should know that they are close.

“They have to start believing that they are good enough to win,” Stafford said. “When you lose a couple of close games you can start letting your mind wonder that we are going to get close but not get over the hump. They have to start believing that they are good enough to win ball games.” 

The Bulldogs’ next game is on Dec. 15. at Humboldt, at 6:15 p.m.