FARMINGDALE — On Tuesday night, the Hall-Dale boys basketball team employed an up-tempo offense and a strong team defense that created turnovers and points.

The Bulldogs were playing their brand of basketball, and it led to a 65-55 victory over Waynflete on Senior Night at Penny Gym.

Keegan Cary led Hall-Dale (12-5) with 21 points, while Karter Eldridge scored 15 and  Jaxon Olsen added 14 points.

“It feels great,” said Eldridge, a sophomore forward. “(Waynflete) is a solid team. They’ve had some solid wins. They’re worth a lot of (Heal) points. (The win) means a lot to us.”

The Bulldogs were able to hold off a strong effort from Waynflete’s JJ Carlo (23 points) and Jed Alsup (22 points).

“Always happy to get a (winning) result,” Hall-Dale coach Chris Ranslow said. “Waynflete is a good team, Rich (Hill) is a great coach, he’s coached a great program for 21 years. He always gets the most out of his kids. We played hard. I thought (Waynflete) presented some challenges in the first half. … I thought we did a better job championing our assignments in the second half.”

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After going 10-1 to start the season, Hall-Dale had gone 1-3 in its previous four games, including losses to Class C South’s top two teams, Mt. Abram (a 66-47 loss on Jan. 16) and Monmouth Academy (a 62-46 defeat on Jan. 24).

The situation looked troublesome early against Waynflete (7-8). The Flyers jumped out to a 13-8 lead after one quarter. But the Bulldogs outscored Waynflete 28-16 in the second quarter and took a 36-29 lead at the half.

“When (only) three or four guys are doing their job, we get exposed,” Ranslow said. “(The key) is everybody being locked in; it’s everybody pulling the rope in the same direction. … I think our team is conditioned well and ready to play 32 minutes.

“When everyone has bought in on the defense end, it works really well when we get (the ball) on offense. You can go down and rely on any one of the five guys to take a good shot for our team.”

Cary scored 11 of his 21 points in the second quarter. Eldridge added 10 of his 15 points in the second and was a rebounding force the rest of the game. In the loss to Monmouth Academy, Eldridge had 16 boards.

“I love (rebounding), I take a lot of pride in it. It’s my favorite thing, honestly,” Eldridge said. “When I get a board over a guy that’s bigger than me, I just love it. (The opponent) gets mad, but I love it.”

Hall-Dale gets another shot at Monmouth in its regular-season finale on Feb. 5. But Tuesday’s victory was the kind of get-right game the Bulldogs were looking for to regain their confidence before the C South tournament. Hall-Dale is currently the No. 4 seed in the Class C South.

“The conference is pretty tough,” Cary said. “When we’re at our best, we’re tough to compete with. But in order for us (to be at our best), we have to work a little harder. We can still get a lot better before the playoffs, and I think we’re going to be a tough out when it comes time.”

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