Hampton-Dumont-CAL will travel to Dike-New Hartford to begin the girls basketball playoffs Saturday in a 3A Region 3 first round game. It’ll air on 104.9 KLMJ.
The Wolverines (12-10) have picked up momentum recently, having won three of their last four games. Each of those wins was by one or two possessions. DNH defeated the Bulldogs 45-19 on the road in a regular season game in December, but Head Coach Matt Dove says their opponent is tested and improved.
“They play in a tough league, play some tough teams, Clear Lake twice, Algona twice,” Dove says. “So definitely playing teams that are going to challenge you and help you improve. So yeah, we played them earlier in the year, but we’re approaching this as if their team that has improved, and I guarantee you that’s not the same team that we played back in December. So we know we’ll have our hands full. We’ve got to have a good day of practice and make sure we’re doing everything to prepare ourselves for a good Hampton team.”
Hampton-Dumont-CAL (7-14) closed the regular season with a 55-11 win over Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, snapping a three-game losing streak. Head Coach Miranda Stafford shares her keys to the game.
“We’ve got to rebound, they’ve got some inside presence,” Stafford says. “They’re bigger than us, which isn’t really hard, but Madison works really hard. Bridget works really hard, Aliyah comes in and has to play inside. Our girls are going to work hard, and they’re going to work hard for position. So we’ve got to work hard on the inside and not give up second shots. That’s going to be big. We’ve got to see the ball go through the basket. If we can get some buckets early to play with them and gain some confidence and get everybody to score, then hopefully it’s a different outcome.”
Pregame coverage will start at 6:45 p.m., followed by the tipoff at 7:00. The winner will advance to a regional semifinal against either West Liberty or #1 (3A) Mount Vernon.
