The Le Mars basketball teams stepped out of conference play to tangle with Western Christian in Hull on Thursday night.
The ninth-ranked Le Mars girls took down the Wolfpack 61-54 to open the night, and Le Mars struggled to pull away most of the night. The Bulldogs never led by more than double digits until the late part of the game. Head coach Sidney Baumgartner says it was good to see the girls fight hard and come away with a win.
Le Mars struggled quite a bit on the offensive end after doing a lot of things right up to making the shot. Coach Baumgartner says the girls just could not complete the process of coming away with points on a possession.
The Bulldogs have one of their biggest games of the year early in the season when they finish their back-to-back with No. 7 Bishop Heelan. Coach Baumgartner says the girls are eager to get a crack at a Crusader team that has ended their season the last two years.
Le Mars improved to 5-0 with the win. Jaelyn Marienau had 21 for the Bulldogs in the win. Western Christian dropped to 0-7.
The Le Mars boys had a tough time hanging with second-ranked Western Christian falling to the Wolfpack 64-34.
The Bulldogs got down early and stayed down for the remainder of the half as the Wolfpack took a 25-point lead into the halftime break. Le Mars head coach Cody Dyhrkopp says the Bulldogs could not put a full stretch of positive play together.
The start to the second half was a positive for the Bulldogs who cut that 25-point deficit to within 20 quickly to start the third. Coach Dyhrkopp says the difference in that stretch was finally getting some of those good looks to result in baskets.
Despite a three-game losing streak, the Bulldogs are feeling good heading into their second game in two days. The Bulldogs face off with top-ranked Bishop Heelan at home, and Coach Dyhrkopp says the guys will take a positive attitude into the game.
Le Mars is now 1-3 with the loss while Western Christian improves to 4-0.
