Four victories, going on five

With a winning streak of four basketball games in a row, the Holyoke Dragons are ready to tackle their upcoming opponent, the Haxtun Bulldogs. Since defeating four teams – two of which were achieved in Sterling, Colorado, last month at the regional Holiday Tournament – boys Head Coach Colbey Stumpf said the Dragons’ coordination and overall skills have improved immensely.

“I think we are playing some really good basketball right now,” he said.

Haxtun, like Holyoke, is “a pretty young team and [lacks] some experience,” according to Stumpf. To defeat the Bulldogs, he continued, will not exceed the Dragons’ expectations; Holyoke won in their matchups twice last season, and has improved in techniques and tactics since then.

The team’s skills came to bear Thursday against the St. Francis Indians, where the Dragons ended the first quarter strong with eight 2-pointers and three 3-pointers for a 25-6 lead. By the second quarter, the Dragons had begun to sub in younger players.

“It was really good to get the younger kids some playing time and some experience,” Stumpf said. “I thought we played really well as a team.”

Most every Holyoke player gained a chance on the court. Continuing into the second half, the Dragons sat comfortably with a score of 39-9.

The second half, St. Francis only compiled six more points with free throws and one 2-point shot. Holyoke, meanwhile, shot 24 points for a landslide victory at 63-15.

The Dragons’ Friday win over the Caliche Buffalo proved difficult, according to Stumpf, with their main obstacle being Caliche’s Tanner Gerk.

“Tanner Gerk is a really good player and we had to prevent him from scoring as much as possible,” Stumpf said. Holyoke’s Reid Sprague managed to counter Gerk, however, with Stumpf noting Reid “did a really good job defensively against him.”

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.