Le Mars and Bishop Heelan met in a MRAC basketball doubleheader last night in Le Mars.
The Bulldog girls opened the night falling to the second-ranked Crusaders 53-34.
Le Mars and Bishop Heelan were neck and neck throughout the first half. The Bulldogs trailed 20-16 at the end of the first half after holding the Crusaders to shoot 32% from the field in the first half. Bulldog head coach Cody Dyrhkopp says that he was pleased with his team’s overall defensive effort last night.
The goal for the Bulldogs offensively was work the ball down low and force the Crusaders to respect both their inside and outside game. Zoe Wittkop led the Bulldogs offensively with 10 points being able to get down in the lane and make shots. Coach Dyhrkopp was pleased with Wittkop’s play offensively last night.
The Bulldogs are now 6-10 overall and 5-5 in the MRAC following the loss. Only five games remain on the schedule for Le Mars. Heading toward the end of the season, the goal for Le Mars continues to be confidence.
Bishop Heelan improved to 14-1 and 10-0 in the MRAC. The Crusaders finished with a pair of players in double-figures. Brooklyn Stanely scored 17 points with Kenley Meis adding 14.
The Bulldog boys picked up a win in the evening finale with a tight 59-56 win over Bishop Heelan.
It took a full team effort to take down the Crusaders. Le Mars led 30-23 at the end of the half, and Bishop Heelan made short work of that deficit in the third quarter. The Crusaders tied it up heading into the fourth and led for a good chunk of the fourth quarter. Bulldog head coach Dave Irwin was really pleased to see everyone contribute to the win.
The Bulldogs got 19 points out of the MRAC’s leading scorer, Caleb Dreckman. Konnor Calhoun and Cal Eckstaine finished in double-figures as well with 11 points and 10 points respectively. Le Mars shot 50% from the field which is five percentage points more than their average. Coach Irwin says that patience was the key to Le Mars’ success against the Crusaders.
The Bulldogs are now 9-6 and 6-3 in the MRAC following the win. The Crusaders remain on the schedule in a week and a half with a handful of games remaining in conference play. The focus for Coach Irwin and the Bulldogs now becomes on them so that they can play their best basketball heading into the tournament.
The Crusaders fell to 8-5 and 5-4 in the MRAC with the loss. Bishop Heelan finished with three players scoring in double digits. Matt Noll scored 16, Carter Kuehl had 15, and Nick Miller scored 10.
