Decorah hands MFL MarMac first loss
Brock Hackett hefts up a shot in MFL MarMac’s 69-50 over Kee on Jan. 10. He scored four points in the game. (Photos by Audrey Posten)
Wyatt Powell flies past a Kee defender in last week’s Bulldog win. The team is a perfect 8-0 atop the Upper Iowa Conference.
Bryce Diehl shoots a free throw in last week's game against the Hawks.
Zach Driscoll skirts around a Kee defender in the Bulldogs' Jan. 10 conference win.
Parker Kuehl put up 16 points in MFL MarMac's victory over Kee.
Carver Blietz-Bentien hefts up a three-point shot against the Hawks. He totaled eight points in the game.
Bulldogs get right back to winning ways versus Kee, Janesville
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
Decorah snapped the MFL MarMac boys basketball team’s 10-game unbeaten streak with a 64-50 non-conference win Jan. 9.
The Bulldogs shot a season low 29.7 percent from the field and connected on just three of 20 long-range attempts. They were also out-rebounded 41-34, including 33 defensive rebounds for Decorah that limited second chance scoring opportunities.
Carver Blietz-Bentien led the Bulldogs with 16 points, and added five rebounds, four steals and an assist to his stat line. Zach Driscoll finished the night with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Wyatt Powell picked up 10 points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Brock Hackett hit two three-pointers off the bench for six points, and Hunter Meyer contributed three points, three assists and a team-high eight rebounds.
MFL MarMac didn’t let the loss linger. The team got right back in the win column Jan. 10 with a 69-50 victory over Kee. It was the Bulldogs’ eighth in the Upper Iowa Conference, where they still remain unbeaten.
The team’s field goal percentage improved to 51.9 percent in this game, including a 10-11 night for top scorer Driscoll, who finished with 24 points and seven assists.
Parker Kuehl netted 16 points, Powell nine and Blietz-Bentien eight. Hackett, Bryce Diehl and Landyn Miene added four points apiece.
Kee shot an equally respectable 46.5 percent, and trimmed the MFL MarMac lead to single digits in the second half. The Bulldogs had a commanding 31-19 rebounding advantage, however, and snagged seven steals and five blocks.
Driscoll’s seven rebounds were most on the teams, followed by Blietz-Bentien with six. Kuehl and Miene each grabbed five.
Blietz-Bentien also swiped three steals and Powell two, while Driscoll had one steal and four of the team’s blocks.
The Bulldogs carried that success over into an 80-47 rout of Janesville in their Jan. 14 Winter Classic game at Upper Iowa University.
MFL MarMac held just a narrow 16-13 lead through the first quarter, but poured on 29 points in the second period to go up 45-33 at the half. The team then held the Wildcats to a combined 14 points in the final two quarters, including just three in the fourth.
The Bulldogs hit nearly 48 percent of their shots in this game and had four starters in double digits: Driscoll at 18, Powell 17 and Kuehl and Blietz-Bentien with 16.
Powell topped the assist column with eight and Driscoll added seven, while Kuehl’s seven rebounds were tops on the team. Meyer and Blietz-Bentien each picked up six rebounds.
Defensively, the Bulldogs snagged 20 steals and one block. Powell and Driscoll each accounted for six steals, Meyer three and Kuehl two. Miene had the block.
The 12-1 Bulldogs have two UIC match-ups on the schedule this week: Postville on Jan. 17 and Turkey Valley Jan. 20. Both games will be in Monona.
