Bulldogs win third straight game in early part of the season

HAMPTON—- The Hampton-Dumont-CAL Bulldogs girls basketball game improved to 3-0 on the year after a 53-36 win over the Clear Lake Lions on Dec. 6.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the first quarter, but the Lions went on a 9-2 run to take a 9-6 lead with just under 3:00 left to go in the quarter. The Lions led 13-9 at the end of the quarter. But the Bulldogs responded in the second quarter as they went on a 7-0 run to make it a 16-13 game with 5:20 left before halftime. The two teams then exchanged baskets during the rest of the quarter and the Bulldogs led 22-21 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Bulldogs extended their lead to 26-22 and a three-pointer by MacKenzy Valley made it a 29-23 game with 6:37 left in the quarter. The Lions cut the lead down to two points to make it 29-27 with less than 5:30 left to play in the quarter. The game remained close with the score 32-30, when Jordan Valley recorded a steal and then passed the ball to Lily Hambly who scored to make it 34-30 with 1:16 left. Shortly after, Jordan got another steal which led to a free throw by Charlee Morton that made it 35-30 which was the score at the end of the quarter.

The Bulldogs then pulled away in the fourth quarter thanks to putting the full court press on while on defense as they outscored the Lions 18-6 in the final quarter. The Bulldogs extended their lead to double digits at 42-32 with less than 4:00 left to play and a three-pointer by Brookly Valley made it 45-32 with 3:32 left to play. The Bulldogs ended the game on a 8-4 run.

Head coach Miranda Stafford said that starting the season on the right foot with the winning streak should do a lot for the team's confidence going forward.

“It was another game for them and they are ready to come back to work on Monday,” Stafford said. “I am excited, Clear Lake is a young team and we kind of had to wait and then when we could apply some pressure in the fourth quarter I knew we could get away.”

With the game being close up until the fourth quarter, Stafford said that one positive for the Bulldogs was the difference in their mentality in a close game when compared to last year.

“Last year we lost close games because we weren’t mentally tough enough to do the things right down the stretch to win it,” Stafford said. “So to be in a couple of close games this year and come out on the other side is a testament to the girls mental toughness and their growth and the time they put in to be comfortable in those close situations.”

The Bulldogs shot 20-for-46 from the field as Morton and Jordan Valley led the team with 12 points each, Hambly and Brooklyn Valley both added 10 points each, MacKenzy Valley scored eight points, and Addison Aalbers had one point. The team went 10-for-17 from the free-throw line, but went 3-for-17 from the three-point line. 

Stafford said she felt like the team’s shots selection was decent, but that the team needs to be a little bit more patient while on offense. The fact the scoring was pretty spread out for the Bulldogs showed that the team is ok with sharing the basketball this season.

“There is nobody that is like well I have to get 15 points a game,” Stafford said. “They don’t care as long as we win. I think in the last game we had everyone who entered the game scored and in this game I am pretty sure that all of our starters had a bucket. They don’t care who scored as long as the ball goes in the basket.”

On defense the Bulldogs had 14 steals as a team, Brooklyn Valley led the team with six steals, Jordan Valley added five steals, MacKenzy Valley had two steals, and Aalbers had one steal.

Stafford said that the team was able to create some pressure during the fourth quarter and that led to more steals.

“Clear Lake has some young guards and in a close game when you put the pressure on young guards it makes them uncomfortable,” Stafford said. “So I thought the key to that was Brooklyn and Jordan not getting into foul trouble throughout the rest of the game so we could put pressure a little bit more in the fourth quarter and that was huge.”

The Bulldogs’ next game is at home on Dec. 13. against Webster City at 6:15 p.m.