Bulldogs Boys' Season Ends with Loss to Comets

ALLEMAN - The Hampton-Dumont-CAL boys basketball team's season has come to an end after a 78-50 loss to the North Polk Comets in the first round of the Class 3A District 2 tournament on Monday, Feb. 23. The Bulldogs fell behind 19-4 at the end of the first quarter and were never able to recover. Despite the season coming to an end, the Bulldogs improved their win total from four wins last season to seven wins this season. Bulldogs' head coach Matt Lokenvitz was proud of how his team improved throughout the year.

"We knew coming into the season that it was going to take some time to implement the new system both offensively and defensively," Lokenvitz said. "As the players got more comfortable in that system and their roles on the team, we were able to start competing with top teams in our conference. I'm proud of the way they competed and look forward to building on that in the seasons to come."

Senior Brady Harr recorded another double-double in the final game of his career, as the Iowa State football commit scored 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds. Harr made 9 of his 11 free throw attempts and lead the Bulldogs with three assists. Senior Caden Woods scored 10 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting in his final game in a Bulldogs' uniform.

With the season coming to an end and the Bulldogs losing a lot of senior production, coach Lokenvitz knows next season will be a challenge.

"Next year will look completely different than this season," he said. "We will return two starters and a few off the bench, but we won't have a 6'8 post player to build an offense around. We understand that we are going to have to shoot better next year and be able to take care of the ball if we want to be successful. I'm excited to see what we can accomplish next season and can't wait ti get started this summer in learning some new skill sets."

The Bulldogs end the year with a record of 7-15 and 5-9 in conference play. With the Bulldogs losing nine seniors from this year's team, they will have to replace a lot of production to take the next step as a program.