Dawgs Suffer Setback at Basketball Shootout

The Milbank Area Bulldogs dropped to 1-3 on the season with a 50-39 loss in the final game of the State Farm-S&D One Stop Basketball Shootout Tuesday, December 29, at the Milbank Armory.
Turnovers and fouls led to the Dawgs demise after a solid first half. Milbank Area started off hot with a 12-6 advantage at the end of the opening period. Senior Jacob Jackson led the charge with two big three point shots. Langford Area battled back and cut into the deficit at 28-25 at the midway mark.

The Bulldogs struggled to start the second half and added just four points to its total in the third period. The Lions took over the lead at 37-32 heading into the final stanza.

Senior Nolan Foss knotted up the score at 37-37 midway through the fourth quarter with a good old-fashioned three-point play. The Bulldogs were slightly deflated when starter Nate Bien fouled out with four and one-half minutes left in the contest. Turnovers and fouls plagued the Dawgs as the game got away from them in the final minutes.

Foss led the Dawgs with 16 points, eight rebounds and one turnover. Jackson followed with eight points, three boards and two turnovers. Jonny Ash added five points and three rebounds while Bien had four points and one turnover. Matt Lenards tallied four points, two rebounds and one assist, and Tanner Gauer scored two points and grabbed two rebounds on the night.
Also contributing were James Weber with two rebounds, one steal, and one assist, and Mitch Quade, with one rebound and one turnover.

Milbank Area finished the game with 34 rebounds, three steals, two assists, and seven turnovers. The Bulldogs went 16 for 41 from the field for 39 percent shooting on the night and were sent to the charity stripe just 10 times, going four for 10.

Langford Area wrapped up the win with 31 rebounds, seven steals, two assists, one blocked shot, and four turnovers. The Lions made 34 percent of their shots from the field, hitting 15 of 44 attempts. The opponent was 18 for 35 from the charity stripe.

In the first boys game of the shootout, the Ortonville Trojans downed the Webster Area Bearcats 62-45.