Comets ‘pound’ Bulldogs 49-38 in substate semis, to face No. 1-ranked Decorah in final on Monday

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Just a week removed from surviving a “dog fight” with the Hampton-Dumont-CAL Bulldogs in the regular-season finale in which they didn’t finally take control until the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Charles City Comets came out more determined to “pound” these same dogs inside despite the paint presence of HDC’s 6-foot-7 sophomore Brady Harr and his hulking, space-eating senior brother Scott Harr for Thursday’s Class 3A-Substate 3 semifinal in Comet Gym.

The result … Charles City controlled the game more from start to finish while advancing to the substate final with a 49-38 victory.

Comet senior Keenan Wiley, who looks like he’s grown a little taller during the course of this season, led the Comets with 14 points, and senior Jack Hanson scored 10 for Charles City (15-8).

The Bulldogs briefly led at times during the first quarter before the Comets limited them to just 4 points in the second quarter and just 12 for the entire half before taking a 23-12 lead into the locker room.

When Hanson retrieved an offensive rebound and immediately assisted Kayden Kasemeier’s layup with a no-look pass, the Comets attained their biggest lead (28-12) early into the second half.

Bulldog senior swingman Tucker Heeren scored a game-high 16 points for HDC (13-10), which twice cut Charles City’s lead to 7 in the fourth quarter but couldn’t get any closer.

The Comets now will face No. 1-ranked Decorah in the substate final on Monday (Feb. 26) at a neutral site to be announced by the IHSAA on Friday. The Vikings (20-2), who have defeated the Comets in both of their Northeast Iowa Conference games this season, eliminated Dubuque Wahlert 69-56 in their semifinal on Thursday.

Boys Varsity Basketball

Class 3A-Substate 3 Semifinal

CHARLES CITY 49,
HAMPTON-DUMONT-CAL 38

Scoring By Quarters

HDC 8 4 15 11 — 38

CC 11 12 16 10 — 49

Individual Scoring

HAMPTON-DUMONT-CAL — Tate Murray 2, Tucker Heeren 16, Brody Walton 3, Scott Harr 9, Brady Harr 8.

CHARLES CITY — Jack Hanson 10, Keenan Wiley 14, Kayden Kasemeier 8, Victor Ward Jr. 2, Jordin Ritter 8, Jeb Wandro 5.

RECORDS — Charles City 15-8, Hampton-Dumont-CAL 13-10