Waterloo’s Ben Huels goes up for a shot against Gibault on Feb. 7. He led the Bulldogs in scoring this season at 13 points per game.
(Alan Dooley photo)

The Waterloo High School basketball team ended its disappointing season with a 54-51 loss to Freeburg in the Class 3A Mater Dei Regional on Monday night.

The Bulldogs, who finished the season with a record of 9-21, had split two previous contests with the Midgets this season. Monday night’s game was a back-and-forth affair that came down to the final minute.

“(Freeburg) came out shooting really well and built a lead in the first quarter and early second quarter and got up by eight or nine points,” Waterloo head coach Dane Walter said.

“Then we made a good run to finish the half. They came out shooting well again in the quarter and gained big lead on us and we bounced right back with a run of our own.”

Waterloo led 28-27 at halftime, but Freeburg battled back to take a 41-35 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

“It came down to the wire and we just couldn’t hold on,” Walter said. “We had a few costly mistakes and mental lapses in the last 30 seconds that were costly and that they took advantage of.”

A dunk by Dylan Hunt put the ‘Dogs up four points with just 1:05 remaining in the game. But Freeburg proved to strong in the end.

“It was a tough loss and not really how we wanted to go out and end the season,” Walter said.

Ross Schrader scored 17 points to lead the Bulldogs, including three three-pointers. Hunt added 14 points and Ben Huels chipped in with six points and seven rebounds.

The Bulldogs ended their season with a seven-game losing streak. On Friday, Waterloo dropped a 70-66 game to Civic Memorial to end the regular season. Huels scored 21 points to lead the ‘Dogs.

Monday’s loss marked the final games for seniors Huels, Hunt, Griffin Lenhardt and Hayden Bender.

Huels led the team in scoring at 13 points per game. Hunt averaged 12 points per game. Lenhardt averaged eight points and nearly five assists per contest. Bender also contributed valuable minutes.

“We will certainly miss our seniors,” Walter said. “Three of the four were two-year varsity starters and the other our sixth man.

“While our record may not show it, those kids grew immensely over the last two years.  Those seniors are great kids and will without a doubt be successful in life. That’s what’s most important.”