Bulldogs Defeat Wolverines for First Win of Season

The Hampton-Dumont-CAL boys basketball team picked up their first win of the season after defeating the Dike-New Hartford Wolverines 70-61 on Tuesday, Dec. 9. The Bulldogs offense exploded for 70 points, more than they scored in any game last season, to lead the Bulldogs to the victory. Head coach of the Bulldogs, Matt Lokenvitz, expressed that is the offensive output he wants to see from his team.

"That's exactly the way we want to play every single night," Lokenvitz said. "We want to get up and down the floor. When you get up and down the floor and you run the way we run, you get a lot of possessions. When you have that many possessions, you can score 70 points."

The Bulldogs were led by monster games from senior Brady Harr, who was one assist shy of a quadruple-double, and senior Caden Woods, who led the team with 26 points. Harr recorded a triple-double, with 10 points, 15 rebounds and 10 blocks, and assisted many of Wood's buckets. Harr spoke on the connection he and Woods have on the court.

"I see the defender come up, and I know Caden is going to be in the right spot every time," Harr said. "Most of the time I don't even have to look. He finds the ball, finds the area and I hit him every time."

It was a competitive first half, as the Bulldogs took a 33-32 lead into half time. The Bulldogs would pull away in the second half, outscoring the Wolverines 2015 in the third quarter and 17-14 in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Coach Lokenvitz spoke on what getting the first win of the season did for the confidence of the team.

"I'm so proud of these kids," he said. "They won four games last year, so then I come in here and changed up the system. We're going to run the guys a little bit. We got to get in shape, but we can do this. The players deserve the credit; they listened, and they want to get better. Your scheme is only as good as your players want to do it."

The Bulldogs took the momentum into their game at Webster City on Friday, Dec. 12 as the Bulldogs took down the Lynx by a score of 47-46 to improve to 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. The Bulldogs hosted Humboldt on Tuesday, Dec. 16 and their next game is on Friday, Dec. 19 when the host St. Edmond at 7:45 p.m.