When the Hampton-Dumont-CAL boys basketball team resumes its season in the new year, they’ll look to snap a four-game losing streak. At 1-5 and 0-3 in the North Central Conference, Head Coach Brian Niesen has a clear objective for the 2025 portion of the schedule. He says improving ball security is the first priority.
“Our turnover number is really high right now,” Niesen says. “I think it’s around 23 or 24 a game, which is obviously too many. That’s gotta be the biggest thing. As a coaching staff, we’ve gotta put kids in better spots. Maybe that’s different roles or handling the ball. Some guys handle the ball less, some guys handle the ball more, but I think if we get that number down to like 15 or 16, it’ll give us a chance to be a lot more competitive. That’s the number one issue, taking care of the basketball.”
Niesen says those in the varsity rotation have developed ‘on the fly’ due to little to no prior varsity experience. Tramaine Horton, Caden Woods and Conner Miller have taken on starting roles and rarely see the bench.
“There have been a couple games where those guys haven’t even come out of the ball game. So they’re going from basically 0 to 60 there with the 9-10 team or JV team last year. Now it’s almost a full game type of varsity role. That’s not easy for anybody. But they’ve been fun to coach, and our mantra is nothing crazy, just keep getting better together, just try to get a little bit better each practice and in each game.”
Brady Harr leads the team with 10.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game at the center position.
The Bulldogs will resume the season by hosting North Butler on Monday, January 6, the first of a five-game homestand.
