The Hampton-Dumont-CAL girls and boys basketball teams will conclude Hardin County road trip with a non-conference doubleheader at South Hardin on Thursday, on 104.9 KLMJ. The H-D-CAL girls won last year’s meeting 43-37 and the boys won 57-43.
The #11 (3A) H-D-CAL girls (18-1) have won eight games in a row, including a 40-28 win over Iowa Falls-Alden in North Central Conference action on Tuesday. The Bulldogs remain balanced between post play and beyond the arc production with 12 assists per game. Jordan Valley leads with 12 points per game and Lily Hambly averages a double-double per game with 10 points and 11 rebounds per game.
Bulldogs Head Coach Miranda Stafford on back-to-back to conclude regular season and defensive execution.
“Unfortunately, we got one practice to get ready for two games. We’ve got to be ready to go, we’ve got to have legs, be ready to fight back to back nights, and see what we can do,” says Stafford. “Rebounding has to be a must for us. We’re not very big, so we’ve got to get a body. They’re going to make up for that on the defensive end. They’re going to work hard. They’re going to make up for some different things. I was happy with the way that they got out to shooters. They’ve got some kids that if they’re open, they can knock down some shots. I thought that we did a good job of identifying them and getting out.”
The South Hardin girls (8-11) have won three straight games, including 45-35 over Dike-New Hartford in NICL crossover matchup on Tuesday. During the win streak the Tigers defense has settled in, holding all three opponents to 46 points or less. Alli Sheldahl is the team top scorer and rebounder with 13.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
Tigers Head Coach Nick Eller on history between the teams.
“They have a really nice team. It’s very ironic that this group of seniors, in one of their first two or three tournaments we ever took them to was up at the Hampton-Dumont booster tournament. They got to play this exact same group of seniors Hampton has,” says Eller. “I could have told you back then, they had a good group and had a nice team because it was a dogfight then. It has been a dogfight every time we played them since. It’s definitely kind of surreal that we’re playing them here to end the seniors career. Definitely is a fight every time we play them.”
The H-D-CAL boys (4-13) ended an eight game slide with a thrilling 79-76 overtime win over Iowa Falls-Alden in conference play on Tuesday. Brady Harr and Caden Woods are coming off big time 28 point performances on Tuesday.
The South Hardin boys (9-10) have won four of their last five games, with the exception being a 54-49 loss to Dike-New Hartford on Tuesday. Traven Wheeler leads the Tigers with 11 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Pregame coverage on 104.9 KLMJ will begin right after the 6 p.m. news followed by the opening tip at 6:15 p.m. in Eldora.
