Lady Bulldogs Drop in Second Hoops Contest

The Milbank Area Lady Bulldogs suffered 54-36 loss to Deubrook Area Saturday, December 12, to drop to 1-1 on the season.
“We weren’t mentally ready to play,” noted Milbank Area head coach Joe Frederiksen. “We got off to a slow start and couldn’t recover.” Missed opportunities led the Lady Bulldogs to a 17-6 deficit at the end of the opening period. Milbank Area picked up the pace in the second quarter and narrowly outscored the Dolphins, but remained behind at 27-17 at the midway mark.

The Lady Bulldogs struggled again to start the second half and were outscored 14-9. Deubrook Area held the 41-26 advantage heading into the final stanza, and Milbank Area was unable to pull any closer. “I was happy with how we rebounded, especially on the offensive end,” mentioned Frederiksen. “We need to be able to make some of the easier baskets to help our scoring.”

The scoring was spread out among eight Milbank Area players. Caryssa Mielitz led the way for the Lady Bulldogs with eight points, 15 rebounds, six steals, one assist, one blocked shot, and four turnovers. Molly Rick was close behind with seven points, five rebounds, and two turnovers while Mikaela Hoeke added six points, on board, two assists and two turnovers. Shelby Hooth tallied five points, one rebound, and two turnovers. Karlee Mertens had three points, three rebounds, one blocked shot, one assist, and two turnovers. Mikayla Street contributed three points, three rebounds,and one steal. Sophia Seffrood added two points and five rebounds while Shea Hooth dropped in one bucket for two points.

Also adding to the Milbank Area statistics were Mackayla Schuelke, one rebound, three steals and three turnovers; Tori Brandenburger, one rebound, and one turnover; Cara Berkner, four turnovers, and Clare VanDover, one turnover.

Milbank Area shot just 25 percent for the game, making 14 of 56 attempts. The locals finished the game with 49 rebounds, 12 steals, four assists, two blocked shots, and 22 turnovers.

Deubrook Area made 39 percent of its shots from the field, hitting 16 of 41 attempts. The Dolphins wrapped up the win with 35 rebounds, seven steals, two assists, one blocked shot, and 18 turnovers.

Milbank Area will host Redfield-Doland in its first home game of the season Thursday, December 17. The C team will start at 5:15 p.m. with the junior varsity and varsity to follow.

JV and C team scores – The Milbank Area C team secured a 42-10 victory over Deubrook Area while the JV fell 42-34.