by Tad Heitkamp, coach
Blue Dragons Slip Past the Bulldogs
On February 1st, 2022, the Blue Dragons traveled to Baltic to take on the Bulldogs in Big East Conference action.
When the dust settled and the final horn sounded the Blue Dragons left town with a 52-43 victory. In the opening quarter the Blue Dragons were a little sluggish on both ends of the court as they only scored 10 points, while giving up 11.
“I’m not sure what was happening, but for whatever reason we were playing really tight and overly cautious the opening 8 minutes,” mentioned Heitkamp. The Blue Dragons got things rolling the 2nd quarter offensively dropping down 18 points (allowed 8 points), but they were never able to put the Bulldogs away early.
Heitkamp stated, “Baltic played very physical tonight, which was evident in the 27 offensive rebounds we gave up. The bottom line with a stat line like that...we were fortunate to get out of town with a victory.”
Dylan Kindt had the hot hand for the Blue Dragons as he was the game’s high scorer with 22 points (7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals). Cooper Long (4 rebounds and 2 steals) and Rhett Kloth (11 rebounds and 9 blocks) added 12 points each, while Sam Schleuter (4 rebounds and 3 steals) and Cadyn Ockenga (5 rebounds) rounded out the scoring with 4 and 2 points.
Blue Dragons Take Down the Cougars
The Blue Dragons played host to the McCook Central Montrose Cougars on February 4th, 2022. The Blue Dragons put together their best game of the season up to this point as they dismantled the MCM 55-38.
“The kids came out of the locker room with a different look in their eye tonight, which was evident in how they played,” stated Heitkamp. “We did a great job on the boards, which limited their second chance scoring opportunities. We also played great team defense, which led to some easy transition scoring opportunities.”
Cooper Long had a monster night as he led all scorers with 31 points, which included scoring the first 9 points of the game for the Blue Dragons. Dylan Kindt (9 rebounds and 3 steals) and Rhett Kloth (7 rebounds) a knocked down 10 and 7 points of their own, while Isaiah Gnadt (2 steals) added 3 points to the scoring column. Cadyn Ockenga (2 steals) and Sam Schleuter (5 rebounds and 2 steals) pitched in with 2 points apiece.
