The Mission boys basketball team may have dropped back-to-back conference games against Ronan Deer Lodge but have still shown “significant improvement” as the Bulldogs head towards the last portion of the regular season, according to their Coach Gus McDonald.

“We’ve improved a lot and that is a good thing,” McDonald said. “From the beginning, sometimes we make a few steps forward and a few steps back. In all parts of the game, everyone is making steps somewhere.”

McDonald, who is in his first season as the Bulldogs’ head coach, continues to work with his team as they prepare for their Class-B District Play.

“We are improving one step at a time and that is all I can ask for from these kids,” McDonald said. “Anything we teach them to improve on, they do. Seeing that improvement and hearing those good compliments from the fans is pretty cool to hear. I am grateful for having the kids, seeing them improve day by day and developing to where they were last is pretty cool.”

In the 71-53 loss to Deer Lodge Saturday at Mission High School, the Bulldogs came out strong.They began the game with a 16-6 lead.

“In the beginning of the game we were on a roll and then we committed a couple of turnovers,” McDonald said. “We had a major breakdown with attitudes. We got a mix of emotions. It’s kind of hard to say other than we just had a breakdown moment and allowed Deer Lodge to get the momentum back.”

The Bulldogs’ third quarter push was dissipated by several 3-point shots the Wardens were able to convert.

“They started hitting a bunch of threes,” McDonald said. “All of those were offensive and defensive cutbacks. Then the communication for our team was breaking down towards the end. I would say our lack of leadership and communication hurt us.”

Moving forward, McDonald said his team needs to work on communication.

“We have to stop bickering against each other because when we do that, we have some kind of breakdown,” McDonald said. “We have to be working together as a team. Anything goes because we are a family. We have to find the players with the hot hand, keep working the ball inside and out, and communicate better. We are getting in these close games and that brings us to victory points. That had resulted in a good showing in Troy. Everyone was working as a team. When we are able to do that in some of these contests, we will start winning more and more of these tight basketball games.”