The Hampton-Dumont-CAL basketball teams will host Iowa Falls-Alden in North Central Conference action Tuesday on 99 The Wave. It’ll be the first conference games of 2025 for each team.
The Hampton-Dumont-CAL boys are coming off a 53-52 win over North Butler Monday. In the final seconds of regulation, Hunter Rieken saved a missed free throw from going out of bounds between his legs, finding Aaden Keehn for a winning layup as time expired.
In a rebuilding season, Coach Brian Niesen says the defensive end has carried the team.
“We knew we’d have some growing pains,” Niesen says. “But you know, some guys have been playing some good ball for us. Trey Horton has shown that he’s a playmaker. I think he had 18 points in the Humboldt. Caden Woods has shown he can be a force inside. Conner Miller’s had some games where he shot it really well, and then all those guys in the defensive end. And I feel like collectively, our team defense has been a bright spot. If you go possession by possession, that’s hard to stat sometimes. But I feel like when we get our half-court defense set, we’ve been we’ve been pretty solid for the most part.”
Off to a strong start to their season, the Cadet boys (6-2, 2-0 NCC) are coming off Monday’s 62-50 win over Roland-Story. They’ll look for their first win in the series since the 2022-2023 season. Head Coach Mike Holm says the team speed is a strength.
“We are not big, but we are quick,” Holm says. “And we have to use that to our advantage. And our guards are aggressive, they’re smart, they’ve played for a few years for us now. And then we work on that in practice about every day on transition, getting a bucket when it’s our advantage and making sure we’re getting good looks at the hoop.”
Kale Kalous is second in the conference at 22.1 points per game.
The #13 (3A) Hampton-Dumont-CAL girls (9-0, 4-0 NCC) will look to stay atop the conference standings. They’re off to a dominant start, with the highest margin of victory in the league at 13.8 points. They defeated North Butler 61-15 Monday.
It’ll be the second straight ranked opponent for the Cadet girls (2-1 NCC) after a 72-28 loss to #5 (3A) Roland-Story Monday.
Coverage will start at 6:00 p.m., followed by the tipoff at 6:15.
