The #13 (3A) Hampton-Dumont-CAL girls basketball team in a tight low scoring game held off an upset bid by Lions to win their fourth game in a row and the H-D-CAL boys stuck with #2 (3A) Clear Lake in the first quarter but hit a cold shooting stretch for the rest of the game in loss. The Bulldog girls won 35-29 and the Clear Lake boys won 87-26, as aired on 104.9 KLMJ on Friday.
In the girls game, H-D-CAL got the Lions offense out of rhythm early with on-ball pressure to pull ahead to a 12-5 advantage after the first quarter. The Lions answered with a 6-0 run to start the second quarter to get within 12-11 deficit with 3:20 to go. The Bulldogs regained some breathing room from that point with an 8-0 run to go up 20-11 at the half. The Bulldogs led 33-29 with 2:50 to go in the game and the defense stood with timely stops by not allowing another Lions score to seal the road win.
H-D-CAL Head Coach Miranda Stafford on message to team in close game in final minutes and what the win means.
“Continue to get stops, continue to play defense, understand situations. I will always trust our defense, and so do they. They buy in and they know that they can work hard on the defense end and make things happen,” says Stafford. “These are the type of games that our kids didn’t win last year. It’s fun to see their growth, their improvement, their mentality and their composure. It’s loud in here, they’ve got a lot of energy and their girls play hard. To come away with a win and a sweep of Clear Lake is something I haven’t done.”
Brooklyn Valley had 10 points including two triples and Jordan Valley and Lily Hambly each had eight points apiece to lead the Bulldogs.
In the boys game, it was tied at 7-7 with 5:56 to go in the first quarter. The Lions took off from there outscoring the Bulldogs 14-6 to go up 21-13 at the end of the first. The Lions, with active hands, took control of the turnover battle and got their transition game rolling to extend their lead to 39-23 at the half. The Lions defense locked down the Bulldogs offense to three points in the second half to remain perfect on the year.
Bulldogs Head Coach Brian Niesen on competitive start and where the Lions took advantage.
“I thought early in the game we did a good job getting the ball inside. I thought our defense played with some bounce in their step early. The second half when things got away from us, it was just a lot of live ball turnovers. They didn’t really have to run offense much against us. We turned it over, they went and shot layups,” says Niesen. “It’s hard to keep playing with intensity when you get down big and you’re throwing it away. The first half, I thought our guys competed. I liked the swagger we played with. I liked our body language early in the game. Clear Lake’s really good. We got to be more consistent with everything, decision making, body language, defensive effort, defensive communication, everything.”
Tramaine Horton had nine points and Caden Woods added eight points to lead the Bulldogs.
The Hampton-Dumont-CAL girls (14-1, 7-1 NCC) and Bulldog boys (3-10, 1-7 NCC) will host West Fork for their annual Franklin County Coaches vs Cancer game on Saturday. Action begins at 6:00 p.m. in Hampton. The day will also include a silent auction, food trucks with food from the district’s ProStart group, a coloring contest, and more. As part of the event, Honorary Survivors and Honorary Caregivers will be recognized.
