The Missouri River Activities Conference basketball regular season came to its conclusion in Le Mars on Tuesday night with a doubleheader between the Bulldogs and Sioux City East.
The Bulldog girls started the night with a 57-44 loss to the #14 Black Raiders.
The last time these two played each other, the three points shots were flying all night. Going into the second meeting, the goal was to keep the Black Raiders from getting hot from long range. Head Coach Cody Dyhrkopp says, outside of a few shots in the first quarter, his team did just that.
The Bulldogs never got in a consistent rhythm on the offensive end especially in the second half. Le Mars shot 6-33 from the field in the second half with a lot of shots getting turned away at or near the rim. Coach Dyhrkopp says the Bulldogs did not execute their offense fully in the second half.
It is crunch time now for the Bulldogs who have one more regular season game left on Thursday before the tournament starts in a week. Coach Dyhrkopp says his team has some work to do on the offensive end if they want a deep tournament run.
The Bulldogs now drop to 11-9 overall and 8-6 in the MRAC finishing the conference schedule tied for third. Sioux City East improved to 15-4 and 12-2 in the MRAC.
The Bulldog boys suffered a similar fate to the girls dropping a low-scoring 51-30 game to the #10 Black Raiders.
It has been a recurring theme throughout the season for the Bulldog boys basketball team. They show snippets of good play in a game that features miscues that hinder their chances for a win. Head Coach Dave Irwin says a lot of those miscues on Tuesday night came on the offensive end.
The Bulldogs did play some outstanding defense in holding the Black Raiders to just 51 points on the night. East scores nearly 70 points a night on average and their 51 points matched their fewest in a win this season. Coach Irwin says his team has to be good on defense to give them a chance in games.
The Bulldog season has not progressed the way they hoped it would in dropping to 4-15 on the year. Le Mars will have two more chances to put some wins on the board to finish the regular season. Coach Irwin says his guys have to look at them as opportunities to mess with another team’s end to their season.
The Bulldogs finish the MRAC schedule with a record of 4-10. Sioux City East officially wraps up the conference title with a 13-1 MRAC record and an 18-2 overall record.
