The Le Mars girls basketball team renewed a Lakes Conference rivalry with a matchup against the #1 team in the state on Monday night in Estherville. The matchup ended with a Bulldog loss at the hands of the Midgets 58-33.
It did not take long for Estherville-Lincoln Central to take control of the game. The Midgets went up 11-0 in the first two minutes of the game, and put the Bulldogs behind the eight ball to start the game. Le Mars head coach Cody Dyhrkopp says ELC took full control of the tempo early.
With the tempo owned by the Midgets, it made things extremely challenging for the Bulldogs on offense who shot less than 20% from the field in the first half and 28.6% for the game. Coach Dyhrkopp says the change in tempo made things uncomfortable when taking shots.
The defensive effort was the bright spot of the game for the Bulldogs who held the Midgets to their lowest scoring output of the season. The Bulldogs held ELC to just eight points in the second quarter. Things then got out of control in the third quarter for Le Mars on defense allowing 19 points to ELC. Coach Dyhrkopp says his team needed to make quicker decisions in regards to necessary adjustments on defense.
The good news for Le Mars is having an opportunity to get back on the court right away with a home matchup with MOC-Floyd Valley. Coach Dyhrkopp hopes his team gets back to where they know they can be at for the matchup.
Le Mars is now 6-4 with the loss. They were led by Sarah Brown who scored 14 points. Estherville-Lincoln Central has now won 24 games in a row and improves to 10-0 on the year. Haylee Stokes had 24 to lead the Midget offense.
