Sophomore Irving Dominguez of Holyoke gets to the bucket for a layup in the Dragon boys’ Tuesday, Jan. 10, win over Haxtun. Holyoke Head Coach Colbey Stumpf believes the deciding factor leading to the Dragons’ victory was effective defense. — Jes-c French | For The Holyoke Enterprise
Defense proves crucial in Holyoke victory and defeats
Holyoke’s Dragons gained a victory Tuesday, Jan. 10, in their matchup with Haxtun, but dropped the following two games against Yuma on Friday and Pine Bluff, Wyoming, on Saturday. With these events, Holyoke Head Coach Colbey Stumpf is eager to learn and adapt.
For the first quarter of the Haxtun game, the ultimate victor was up in the air. Both teams were consistent in sinking layups until fouls came to the table. With the Haxtun Bulldogs making the majority of their points in the first quarter with free throws, Holyoke’s Dragons were consistent in putting up 2-pointers once the ball was back on their side.
Successful free throws by Haxtun’s Michael Gerk were crucial to sink in some points for the Bulldogs, as the Dragons played what Stumpf believed to be “good and tight defense.” This kept other shots made by Haxtun from making it into the basket. Once the ball was on the Dragons’ side, they followed through with offensive shots. Holyoke’s Colby Weber gained points off of fouls from Haxtun, which brought the score up from 17 to 19, finalizing the end-of-quarter score as 19-13, with the Dragons in the lead.
By the second quarter, the Dragons began to score an average of 18 points per quarter, with 17 points made in the second. This quarter brought in two 3-pointers from Holyoke’s Cash Weber and Wyatt Sprague. Weber sank an initial three, following his younger brother’s free throws from the previous quarter.
The Bulldogs scored points of their own, mostly through free throws and some 2-pointers made by Chase Goddard and Colin Cone, with one 3-pointer sunk in at the end by Maclin Tempel. However, Haxtun’s 23 points still fell short of Holyoke’s 36.
For the Holyoke boys, the third quarter was the most difficult. This quarter brought in a total of 15 points, four and two points less than the previous quarters. Haxtun fought hard, gaining 16 points, but still fell short to Holyoke. With no free throws coming from Holyoke, the third quarter ended at 51-39, with the Dragons, once again, in the lead.
Near the end of the fourth quarter, the Holyoke-Haxtun rivalry picked up as the crowd began to cheer relentlessly, hoping for a beneficial outcome for either team.
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