The Hampton-Dumont-CAL basketball teams earned a home sweep of Iowa Falls-Alden in Tuesday’s North Central Conference doubleheader between the programs, as aired on 99 The Wave. The girls won 45-30 and the boys won 67-65 in overtime.
In an epic boys game, the Bulldogs jumped out to an 18-5 lead after the first quarter. But the Cadets returned the favor in the second quarter to pull to within 24-23 at halftime. Iowa Falls-Alden surged and led most of the third quarter, but neither team faltered throughout the second half. Trailing 55-53 late in regulation, Hampton-Dumont-CAL’s Brady Harr hit a layup to tie it at 55, and a Cadet half court shot missed to send the game to overtime. In the extra period, numerous lead changes occurred, including two in the final seconds to decide the game.
Head Coach Brian Niesen on the closing moments.
“I wish we made a better decision on the inbound there,” Niesen says. “That’s our sideline play against pressure, which we usually do a good job of and just kind of forced one there. And then the Iowa Falls-Alden hits a clutch three, of course. And then my gut said, just let’s play it out. Let’s just play. We had one timeout left. I just wanted to play it out. I didn’t want them to have a chance to talk defense or strategy or set something up there. So I just wanted us to go. And we didn’t get a great look. But Aaden Keehn with the offensive rebound and the put back, just like last night. Really happy for him. He’s a great kid. And you can just see his confidence growing by the game. So just a very clutch play by him.”
Harr says in their two-game win streak, the team is heading in the right direction after a slow start.
“We started off slow at the beginning of the season, but I think now we’re starting to get ourselves together, play as a team, because we lost a lot of seniors last year, haven’t played together as a team,” Harr says. “I think now we’re just starting to get the hang of it. I think we’re going to be good in the future.”
Harr led the Bulldogs with 28 points, Caden Woods had 13 and Tramaine Horton added 12. Kale Kalous led the Cadets with 23 points.
In the girls game, the Bulldogs led 16-9 after the first quarter, but stumbled to a 21-13 halftime lead in an extremely low-scoring second quarter. A tight defensive effort kept the Bulldogs in front for a wire-to-wire win despite the shots falling at a slower rate than desired. The team was just 3/20 from three-point range.
“I think some of our just experience down the stretch, they were playing a real young team tonight,” Hampton-Dumont-CAL coach Miranda Stafford says. “So our experience, our composure down the stretch, not stressing out. Some games are just like that, when you just can’t get anything going, you’ve got to stay composed and you’ve got to find a way to will out a win.”
Jordan Valley led with 17 points and Lily Hambly had 11. Elody England led the Cadets with 15 points.
Hampton-Dumont-CAL will host Algona Friday. Iowa Falls-Alden will be at Humboldt Friday.
Brady Harr interview:
Brian Niesen interview:
Jordan Valley interview:
Miranda Stafford interview:
