Bulldog boys add three wins

Bulldog Boys

The Sundance boys basketball team added three wins to their record this past weekend as they defeated Newcastle, Belle Fourche and Lead-Deadwood.

Opening up play on Thursday night in Newcastle, the Bulldogs posted their first win for the season in a 63-51 victory over the Dogies. Gunner McLaughlin and Lane Gill led the Bulldogs in scoring on the night with 15 points each. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead to start the game and were able to maintain their composure to secure the win.

Friday night brought the Belle Fourche Broncs to town. As the first minutes of play ticked away, both sides struggled to hang on to the ball.

After two and a half minutes of up and down, Landon Martin put the Bulldogs on the board first with a three followed shortly thereafter by teammate Lane Gill. The Broncs were quick to retaliate, however, behind the scoring of Gage Kracht who drained two threes himself in the first quarter to keep the Broncs close 11-12 after eight minutes of play.

Both sides stepped up their defense as the second quarter unfolded. The Broncs were able to shut down the Bulldogs from behind the arc but their continuous fouls sent the Bulldogs to the free throw line. Going four for eight from the line, the Bulldogs were able to put points on the board, but found themselves down by two points as the first half came to a close. 

The second half of play found Sundance pulling away one three-pointer at a time as Bulldog senior Brad Kruger began to find his rhythm from behind the arc. Sinking five of his six threes in the second half Kruger could not be stopped.

“It was awesome. My teammates kept feeding me the ball in the places where I like it and I just kept letting it fly,” Kruger stated. “We have so many weapons on offense it’s impossible to defend us all. It could have been any one of us that night and it turned out to be me, which was really cool.”

Draining 18 of his 22 points from behind the arc, Kruger helped to lead the Bulldogs to a 62-50 victory over the Belle Fourche Broncs. 

The Bulldogs added one more win to the column on Saturday as they went up against the Lead-Deadwood Gold Diggers. Although the Diggers kept the score close throughout the first quarter of play, the Bulldogs found their stride at the start of the second and out-scored the Diggers by 18, taking a 38-20 lead into the half.

The Bulldogs had no trouble maintaining their dominance on the court throughout the second half of play as big man Gunner McLauglin threw down 17 points for the night in the 69-41 victory over the Diggers.

With three wins this weekend, the Bulldogs improve their record to 3-1 overall. After the holiday break the Bulldogs are looking to add to their win streak when they host Newell on the 7th of January and a quad on the 8th.

Lady Bulldogs

The Sundance Lady Bulldogs had a tough weekend of play this past weekend. Traveling to Newcastle on Thursday, the Lady Bulldogs struggled to get the ball to fall through the hoop 

Shooting just 21% on the night the Lady Bulldogs fell to the Dogies 21-47. Sherry Negaard led the Bulldogs in scoring with seven points for the night, while Cana McInerney led the team with eight rebounds.

Friday night the ladies were back on the court and up against the Lady Broncs of Belle Fourche. A slow start for the Bulldogs put them down 4-12 after the opening 8 minutes of play. A few trips to the free throw line in the second quarter upped the Bulldog points to 11 but the Broncs maintained their lead going into the break, 23-11.

With 25 fouls between the two teams in the first half, the third quarter started a little slow for both sides. Hoping to draw a few more fouls on the Lady Broncs, Sundance pushed it down the lane, however they were continually shut down by the height of the Lady Broncs and could not close the gap.

Going into the fourth quarter down by 15, the Lady Bulldogs did not give up. They continued to push the ball at the Broncs, putting themselves to the free throw line, and adding points to the board. Unfortunately, time ran out before the Lady Bulldogs were able to close the gap and the Lady Broncs walked away with a 29-44 victory.

The Lady Bulldogs move into the holiday break with a 0-3 record. They hope to add their first win to the season when they come back and host Pine Bluffs on Jan. 8.

Stats from the Games:

SHS Boys vs. Newcastle – 63-51

Scoring: McLaughlin 15 (1/2 FT), Gill 15 (1/2 FT, 0/4 3s), Kruger 11 (0/1FT, 3/5 3s), Martin 11 (3/9 3s), Gillespie 6 (1/1FT, 1/1 3s), Rudloff 5 (2/2 FT, 1/4 3s)

Rebound Leaders: Gill 12, Gillespie 9, Kruger 9

Assist Leaders: Martin 4, McLaughlin 3

Steal Leaders: Martin 2, Gill 2

SHS Boys vs. Belle Fourche – 62-50

Scoring: Kruger 22 (4/4 FT, 6/8 3s), Martin 12 (7/8 FT, 1/2 3s), Gill 12 (3/8 FT, 1/4 3s), McLaughlin 7 (1/1 FT, 0/1 3s) Gillespie 7 (1/3 FT), Rudloff 2 (2/4 FT, 0/1 3s)

Rebound Leaders: Gill 13, Gillespie 10

Assist Leader: Rudloff 4

Steal Leaders: Rudloff 3

SHS Boys vs. Lead-Deadwood – 69-41

Scoring: McLauglin 17 (1/2 3s), Martin 13 (5/8 FT, 0/3 3s), Gill 11 (1/1 FT, 0/2 3s), Davis 7 (4/6 FT, 1/2 3s), Kruger 6 (2/5 3s), Rudloff 5 (2/2 FT, 1/3 3s), Gillespie 4 (0/1 3s), Latham Martin 4 (1/2 FT, 1/4 3s), Harmon 2

Rebound Leaders: Gill 10, Gillespie 8

Assist Leaders: Gill 4, Martin 3

Steal Leaders: Kruger 4, Davis 3, Rudloff 3

SHS Girls vs. Newcastle – 21-47

Scoring: Negaard 7 (1/2 3s), McInerney 5 (1/3 3s), Gill 5 (0/1 FT, 1/3 3s), Ba. Hofland 2 (0/8 FT), A. Marchant 2 (2/2 FT) Heaster (0/1 FT)

Rebound Leaders: McInerny 8, Ba. Hofland 7, 

Steal Leaders: Heaster 3, Ba. Hofland 2, A. Marchant 2

Assist Leader: Heaster 3, Gill 2

SHS Girls vs. Belle Fourche – 29-44

Scoring: Negaard 16 (8/10 FT), A. Marchant 6 (2/7 FT), Ba. Hofland 4 (0/1 FT), Gill 2, L. Marchant 1 (1/4 FT)

Rebound Leaders: A. Marchant 6, Ba. Hofland 6, McInerney 5

Steal Leader: A. Marchant 2