Dawgs Bitten by Tigers

The Milbank Area Bulldogs suffered a 50-28 non-conference high school basketball loss to the Morris Tigers. The game was played on the Bulldogs’ home court on Monday, January 30.

Milbank Area trailed 9-8 at the end of the opening quarter. After that, the Bulldog offense struggled to find open shots and most were highly contested by their quick opponent. Milbank Area scored just two points in the second quarter and went into the locker room at halftime trailing 17-10.

Morris came out ready to go in the third quarter. Three consecutive three-pointers by the Tigers took the wind out of the Bulldogs’ sails. Morris widened the gap to 36-19 heading into the final stanza and Milbank Area could not get any closer.

“I thought we defended throughout the game pretty good,” stated Bulldog Head Coach Matt Bastian. “It was our offense that struggled. I have never seen a box score where only one player made more than one field goal. Our struggles shooting the ball early put pressure on us offensively and we weren’t able to overcome it.”

Seven players scored for the Bulldogs. As indicated by Coach Bastian, just one player scored more than one field goal and one player scored just two free throws. Jonny Ash led the team with eight points on four shots. He grabbed two rebounds and had one steal. Cody Dockter followed with seven points -five from free throws. He added two rebounds, two steals, and one assist. Nate Bien tallied four points and three rebounds. Preston Morton had three points and two rebounds.

Also contributing to the totals for Milbank Area were: Mitch Quade, two points from the charity stripe, three boards, and one steal; Matt Lenards, two points; James Weber, two points, one rebound, and one steal; Derrick Aho, one rebound and one steal; and Riley Wollschlager, one steal.

Milbank Area went 9-of-37 for 24 percent shooting from the field. The Bulldogs ended the game with 22 rebounds, 11 steals, and 1 assist. They committed 10 turnovers.

Morris made 47 percent of its shots from the field- firing in 22 of 47 attempts. The Tigers secured the win with 31 rebounds, 10 steals, and 4 assists. They committed 13 turnovers.

The Bulldogs will be back in action Friday, February 3, when they play host to the Redfield-Doland Pheasants. The C game begins at 5:15 p.m. Junior varsity and varsity follow.

Check out our photo album from the game

Photo of senior Cody Dockter.