Orient-Macksburg falls to Lamoni

ORIENT – Orient-Macksburg looked for a chance at revenge to start 2018 after falling to Lamoni in December, but a tough second half ended in a 42-26 defeat at the hands of the Demons Tuesday.

The Bulldogs trailed by just two points at the halftime intermission thanks to Kaela Eslinger’s 11 points through the first two quarters.

Eslinger finished the contest with 17 points and is now averaging 13.5 points per game for the Bulldogs.

The sophomore guard took note of what worked in her first meeting with Lamoni – when she scored 15 points – and capitalized on that again Tuesday.

“Definitely driving the lane and making them all come at me,” said Eslinger after the game.

Orient-Macksburg head coach Kim DeJongh knows that Eslinger can do a little bit of everything for the Bulldogs.

“She’s our point guard, our ball handler,” said DeJongh. “She’s our all-around player. I mean, everything kind of runs around her so we need her out on the court as much as we can.”

The Demons were able to capitalize on second-chance opportunities in the second half, propelling themselves out to a double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter.

Orient-Macksburg held its conference foe to just seven offensive rebounds in its first meeting, but struggled to control the glass against the Demons Tuesday night.

Lamoni had eight players find the score sheet with Grace Martin leading the way with nine. Martin had 19 in the previous meeting.

“For us, shutting someone down from 19 to nine, that’s a huge step for us so were still growing,” said DeJongh.

Orient-Macksburg led 11-9 early in the second quarter before Lamoni went on a 18-7 run over the course of the second and third quarters.

“Today we attacked their zone a lot better than we did the first time,” said DeJongh. “We made them come out in man-to-man in that second quarter which caused us some frustrations and troubles. We need to learn to move without the ball on man-to-man.”

Riley Rasmussen hit a basket in each half for the Bulldogs. Haylee Gardner and Hailey Johnson added a basket each to finish with three and two points, respectively.

UP NEXT – A young Orient Macksburg (1-7, 1-5) hosts another conference foe in Ankeny Christian Academy on Friday.

Running score by quarter:

O-M – 9 13 18 26

Lam – 7 15 25 42

O-M (FG FT PTS) – Totals – 11 2-6 26. Kaela Eslinger 7 1-5 17, Riley Rasmussen 2 0-0 4, Haylee Gardner 1 1-2 3, Hailey Johnson 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals – 2 (Eslinger 2). Team fouls – 16. Fouled out – None.

Lam (FG FT PTS) – Totals – 17 8-16 42. Grace Martin 3 3-4 9, Leslie Guyer 3 1-3 7, Maddy Maedel 3 1-2 7, Carly Maedel 2 2-5 6, Sariah Heltenberg 2 0-0 4, Payton Vanderflught 2 0-0 4, Briana Hensley 1 1-2 3, Maggie Leonard 1 0-0 2.3-point goals – None. Team fouls – 9. Fouled out – None.