Bulldogs girls basketball looks to get off to faster start

Heading into the upcoming season, the Hampton-Dumont-CAL Bulldogs girls basketball team are getting ready for the season. Head coach Miranda Stafford said that one goal for the team is to start the season ready to go as the team had a slow start last season. Last year the Bulldogs went exactly .500 with a record of 11-11 and the year before that, the Bulldogs were 5-17 on the year.

“Last year we let a few games go early so just come into this season prepared and ready to compete each game,” Stafford said. “Improve as last year we finished at .500 and we are looking to improve on that record for sure.”

Being a little bit more consistent on offense is another goal this year for the Bulldogs. Stafford said that the team improving each year can help with the confidence this year.

“We come in with five seniors who have a lot of varsity experience so they kind of know what to expect,” Stafford said. “I think they are going to come in better prepared and they have some goals for themselves and they know we started way too slow last year and they don’t want that to happen again.”

One strength for the Bulldogs this year is their experience according to Stafford. Another strength is that the team is looking to have a little bit more depth this year.

“And just that competitive edge for those seniors because they know it is kind of their last hurrah. So going out every game and working hard which is never a problem for this group,” Stafford said. “They are competitors and they want to go out and work hard every game and I am excited to see defensively if we can push and do a little different things to create some chaos and translate that to some offense this year.”

One area that Stafford said she hopes the team can use to get off to that faster start this year is how they are more familiar with the offense as Stafford said they changed some things up offensively last year.

“They are going to be a little bit more settled into that offense and we are going to add a little bit more of  a different look depending on the personnel we have in the game,” Stafford said. “I think the experience is a big deal and knowing how those few losses at the beginning of the year really hurt us when it came to postseason seeding and setting yourself up for the best opportunity come postseason. I think the seniors especially will guide those underclassmen to compete every night and not take anything for granted.”

At the end of the regular season last year, the Bulldogs entered the postseason with a five-game winning streak and Stafford said that success at the end of the year helped catapult the team into the offseason.

“Seeing that success and getting some buy in from kids and knowing the success we can have really pushed those kids to work hard in the offseason,” Stafford said. “And we did that, we had a lot of kids put in a lot of time at open gyms and went to some camps and just got the ball in their hands a little bit more. I think that success at the end of the season what helped drive them to want to work a little bit harder in the offseason so we can come into the start of the season ready to go.”

As the season moves along and the team gets to the midway point Stafford said that as she wants to see the team continue to make progress.

“We are going to keep adding things to them here and there and changing things up and hope that they continue to be coachable and make changes when we need to,” Stafford said. “And understanding that the team as a whole has this end goal and it doesn’t matter what role you play in that, even that steps on the floor and suits up is important to that role. I am excited for this group of kids to work together to be able to make things work towards the end of the season.”

The team has a scrimmage at Garner-Hayfield-Ventura on Nov. 19. at 6:15 p.m. and their first game of the year is also on the road at Aplington-Parkersburg on Nov. 25. at 7:30 p.m.