The Le Mars basketball teams wrapped up conference play in the MRAC last night at East High in Sioux City.
The Le Mars girls could not get by the #14 Black Raiders falling by a 53-31 margin.
Le Mars’ offense could never get going during the entirety of the contest. East came out in a full-court zone defense that gave Le Mars a lot of trouble. The trouble for the Bulldogs, as explained by head coach Cody Dyrhkopp, was their inability to get the ball down low consistently.
When the Bulldogs did get the ball down low, it usually meant good things were happening. Lexi Hurd was the top scorer for Le Mars scoring 12 points on 6-8 shooting from the field. It was a good showing for Hurd who played very well against a top-15 opponent.
The Bulldogs round out play in the MRAC with a 7-7 conference record to finish fourth in the MRAC. The Bulldogs are now 8-12 overall and will host Storm Lake on Thursday.
The Bulldog boys met the same fate as the girls falling to East 70-53.
The Bulldogs were focusing on readying themselves for tournament time in a little less than two weeks, but they still wanted to end the conference schedule strong. Head Coach Dave Irwin says that there were some things he liked out of his team, but the issue came on the defensive end last night.
The Bulldogs were led by Cal Eckstaine who had 16 points with 13 coming in the first half. Caleb Dreckman added 15 with 11 coming in the second half. Le Mars now enters a time period in which they will play South Sioux City to round out the regular season on Monday the 14th and then play their first playoff game a week afterwards. The key for Irwin and gang the rest of the way is consistency.
Le Mars ends the conference schedule at 9-5 finishing third in the standings. The Bulldogs are now 12-8 overall.
