The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

The Haxtun Bulldogs ended the week 1-1 with a win over the Dragons in Holyoke on Tuesday and loss to Wiggins on the road Friday. The team is set to take on Sedgwick County this week before moving onto post-season play.

As of press time, the Bulldog team holds an 8-4 record. Haxtun traveled to Otis Tuesday evening for a 1A match up with the 2-10 Bulldogs. Watch next week's edition of the Herald for results of the Bulldog showdown in Otis.

In last week's Phillips County showdown, the Bulldogs went up by three points against the home team Dragons after a quarter of play. Haxtun put 11 points on the board before half time while holding the home team to 10 giving the Bulldogs a four-point advantage at half time, 26-22.

Haxtun outscored Holyoke by five in the third to hold onto the lead heading into the final quarter. The Dragons attempted a late-game run and outscored the Bulldogs by four in the fourth, but the first half lead was enough for the Bulldogs to take home the win, 60-55.

"We played really aggressive defense," Head Coach Jayden Stieb said of his team's performance in Holyoke. "I was very happy with how well we rebounded and the shots we took offensively."

Bulldog senior Ryan Tempel had a standout night under the basket, leading his team with 22 points for the night. David Avery and Michael Gerk both put up nine points for a combined 18 followed by Owen Knode with eight.

Just three days later, the Bulldogs took the court again, this time on the hardwood at Wiggins. The hometown Tigers took a commanding first-quarter lead, 19-8, but the Bulldogs chipped away at the lead throughout the second to end at the half, 31-23.

Haxtun answered back in the third quarter with 19 points to pull the contest within three while the two teams battled throughout the fourth, a final second buzzer beater just didn't fall for the Bulldogs, giving Wiggins a 63-60 homecourt win.

"We struggled to find our rhythm through the game," Stieb said about the contest in Wiggins. "We had flashes where we were able to put everything together but we weren't able to be consistent. Free throws hurt us, so that's obviously something we will have to work on."

Three Bulldogs put up double-digits in the scoring column for a combined 41 of Haxtun's 63 points. Junior starter Avery put up 19 points in Wiggins followed by Knode with 12 and Isaac Andersen with 10.

Friday night the Bulldogs are slated to take on the Cougars of Sedgwick County. According to Maxpreps, the Cougars currently hold a 9-4. Game time Friday is 4 p.m.