The tenth-ranked Le Mars girls basketball team welcomed new head coach Sidney Baumgartner with a 74-29 win over Spencer on Tuesday night.
After three straight years of season-opening losses to Spencer, Coach Baumgartner says the seniors were thrilled to finally get the Tigers to open a season.
The Bulldog defense came to play holding the Tigers to just 13 points in the first half. Le Mars made it tough for the Tigers to simply cross half court with possession a lot of the time. Coach Baumgartner says communication was key in playing lockdown defense.
That defense then funnels into offense that can score quickly on the other end. Coach Baumgartner says transition offense was a point of emphasis to start the year, and the girls showed it against Spencer.
Le Mars had a lot of players contribute on the offensive side with the whole team shooting nearly 50% from the field. Jaelyn Marienau had 21 points, Metta Skov had 17, and Sarah Brown added another 13 points. Coach Baumgartner says her team took advantage of every opportunity on the offensive end.
The Bulldogs head into the Thanksgiving break with a 1-0 record feeling pretty good about where they sit. Coach Baumgartner says there will be a few fine-tuning tweaks to make with regards to turning defense into scoring chances on the other end.
The Bulldogs host Spirit Lake on Tuesday after the break. Spencer drops to 0-2 to start the year and is at Sioux City East on Tuesday next week.
