Top ranked Redbirds roll past Dodgers

Darlington got off to a fast start and  went on to turn back Dodgeville 81-53 in a non-conference contest Thursday.

The Redbirds saw nine of their players score with three in double figures. Ryder Fitzsimons  led with 20 while Broker Buscher and Zeke Zuberbuhler both totaled 17.

Fitzsimons put in 13 of his total the second half and Zuberbuhler chipped in 10 of his total to help the ‘Birds roll to a 42-27 difference the final 18 minutes.

Bryce Crubaugh-Lockard led the Dodgers in scoring with 15 points and Elliott Hessling came off the bench to tally 11.

“Darlington is the real deal.” Dodgeville coach Matt McGraw said. “They deserve their number two ranking in the state.” 

It was a learning curve moment for the Dodgers in the early part of their season. 

“We have some work to do in order to compete with teams of their caliber,” McGraw said about the Redbirds. “Effort was there. Execution was not.”

The Dodgers host Lancaster in their SWC season opener Friday.

SCORE BY HALVES

Darlington      39    42    81

Dodgeville       26    27    53

BOX SCORE

DARLINGTON 81: (fg-ft-tp) D. Glendenning 3-0-7, Leary 0-0-0, Paisley 0-0-0, Edgerton 1-2-4, Kendall 2-0-4, O’Brien 3-0-6, Larson 0-0-0, Buscher 7-1-17, Zuberbuhler 4-7-17, Dempsey 1-0-2, Garcia 0-0-0, Fitzsimons 7-5-20, S. Glendenning 2-0-4  Totals 30-15/28-81 Fouls-23 

DODGEVILLE 53: Busch 1-2-4. Fockler 1-0-3, Crubaugh-Lockard 6-3-15, Staver 0-0-0, E. Hessling 4-2-11, Haakenson 0-0-0, Olson 0-0-0, Jabs 0-0-0, Argall 0-0-0, Halverson 2-5-9, Graber 0-0-0, Stodola 1-3-5. Totals 16-15/26-53. Fouls-19