The Milbank Area Bulldogs displayed their toughness in two recent high school boys basketball contests this past weekend, but fell to 3-10 on the... Bulldog Cagers Show Their Toughness

_DSC0015The Milbank Area Bulldogs displayed their toughness in two recent high school boys basketball contests this past weekend, but fell to 3-10 on the season. The Dawgs dropped 56-46 to Aberdeen Roncalli Friday, January 29, before suffering a close 43-39 loss to Sisseton Saturday, January 30.

Milbank Area played a solid first half Friday in Aberdeen, and trailed by just one point at 22-21 at the halfway mark. The Bulldogs struggled to break Roncalli’s full court press, but remained close at 39-34 heading into the final stanza. The Cavaliers outscored the Dawgs 17-12 in the final period to secure the victory.

“Defensively, this was the best we have played all year,” mentioned Milbank Area head coach Matt Bastian. “We finally showed some toughness on the defensive side of the ball, both guarding and rebounding. Unfortunately, we had a couple breakdowns against their press in the third and fourth quarters that dug us a hole we couldn’t climb out of. This game was a great learning experience where we showed signs of improvement, but we still didn’t put together a complete game.”

Jonny Ash led the Bulldogs with 18 points, two rebounds and one turnover. Nate Bien followed with 12 points, two boards and one turnover. Nolan Foss tallied seven points, two rebounds and one turnover while Jacob Jackson added four points, two rebounds and three turnovers. Also contributing for Milbank Area were Isaac Snaza, two points and four rebounds; Riley Wollschlager, three points; Tanner Gauer, three rebounds and one assist, and James Weber, one assist and one steal.

Milbank Area made 41 percent of its shots from the field, hitting 16 of 39 attempts. The Bulldogs finished the contest with 27 rebounds, three steals, two assists and seven turnovers.
Roncalli went 21 for 51 from the field for 41 percent shooting on the night. The Cavaliers secured the win with 31 rebounds, six steals, five assists and just three turnovers.

Milbank Area traveled to Sisseton Saturday night for a rescheduled matchup between two rivals. The Bulldogs got out to a slow start and struggled from the get go as they trailed 17-4 at the end of the opening quarter. The Dawgs battled back and held the Redmen to just two points in the second quarter to cut into the deficit at 19-15 at the midway mark.
Milbank Area continued to push ahead and overtook the lead at 33-29 heading into the final stanza, but were unable to hold on. Sisseton outscored the Dawgs 14-6 in the final period to secure the win.

“We had our chances to pull off the upset, but just couldn’t catch a break,” noted Bastian. “The guys battled another quality opponent right down to the wire, but had a couple turnovers at crucial points. I really felt for the second straight night, we really defended well. If we can continue this, we should be able to compete against most teams.”

Ash set the pace for Milbank Area with 14 points, two rebounds, one assist and two turnovers. Foss followed closely with 11 points, five boards and one steal. Bien chipped in with eight points and three turnovers while Snaza added two points, four rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot and one steal. Rounding out the team totals were Jackson, two points, one rebound, one steal and three turnovers; Gauer, two points, three rebounds and one turnover, and Weber, four rebounds.

The Bulldogs went 15 for 37 from the field for 41 percent shooting in the contest. They ended the game with 26 rebounds, five steals, two assists, one blocked shot and 10 turnovers.
Sisseton made 38 percent of its shots from the field, making 18 of 48 attempts. The Redmen won the contest with 25 rebounds, 10 steals, two assists, one blocked shot and seven turnovers.

The Dawgs have another busy week of basketball action. They will travel to Castlewood Tuesday, February 2, before hosting back-to-back home games Friday, February 5, and Saturday, February 6. Milbank Area will take on Sisseton again in double header action Friday, and will face Canby, MN, Saturday.

Staff Writer

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